


Venus & Moon

by bonjourmarlene



Category: Little Mix (Band)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/F, F/M, Lesbian Sex, New Year's Eve, New Years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-11 22:40:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3335420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonjourmarlene/pseuds/bonjourmarlene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jade works at a wreath stall to earn some money for the Christmas season. She wonders why the blonde with the big blue eyes comes back every day, leaving her wanting more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I started this in December and had intended to post this as a oneshot/Christmas present but it turned out to be so long?? So I finished it and now decided to post it in chapters. I chose the title ‘cause those are my favourite planets/goddesses and the moon reminds me of Perrie and Venus of Jade. I hope it’s good???

“I got a job at this small Christmas stall in the city where we sell some wreaths,” Jade told Jesy, while wrapping her scarf around her neck to prepare for the icy wind outside. “It’s good, because then I’ll get to earn some more money for Christmas.”

Jesy nodded her head absentmindedly while she doodled on a piece of paper. She was supposed to think of a new dance routine for her class, but she couldn’t find a song to inspire her – and her class wanted something Christmas-y. Not that Jesy wasn’t a fan of Christmas but it wasn’t the most, how to say, exciting holiday per se. It was one of those were you wanted to lie down in front of the fire place and snuggle the person you loved and drink hot chocolate. It was hard to find a song that expressed Christmas and was rocky at the same time.

“Are you even listening?” Jade asked her after a while, watching her friend’s pen move across the white sheet. “Jesy?”

“Hm? Sorry.” She shook her head and straightened her posture, looking at her shorter friend. “Job. Selling wreaths. Great for money because Christmas,” she summarised quickly, wanting to prove she had paid attention to a certain extent. “It’s just… I can’t find a good song for my class.”

Jade smiled and kissed her on the cheek before slipping her arms through her green parka. “I’m sure you’ll find something. You’ve always done.”

“If you happen to meet a singer slash songwriter at the stall, let me know,” Jesy murmured and turned her attention back to her doodle – it was a mix of lines and flowers and stars.

Jade nodded and laughed before opening the door and stepping outside into the cold. A cool wheeze passed her and she shivered a bit, hugging herself. The stall would be in the Leadenhall Market in the City of London, and Jade lived together with Jesy in a rather small flat – but bearable – right next to a library in Southwark, so it took her about ten minutes to get to the mall. The streets were icy and she had to be careful not to slip on the ice but somehow she managed. She even smiled at all the people passing her, the Christmas spirit filling her with life. She’d always been a big fan of the season, and now that there was snow in London (when did that last happen!?) she was even more in the mood. There hung lights from the windows, now turned off because it was bright enough without them, and a metallic Santa was standing in front of every supermarket she passed. People wore gloves and scarves and warm boots, their noses and cheeks red and glowing.

How could someone not love this season?

When she walked inside Leadenhall Market, she breathed out in relief, the warmth of the building bringing back life to her toes and fingers – although she had worn gloves and boots. The stall was already put up, a man, middle-aged, wearing a Norwegian Christmas jumper and brown cord pants along with dark brown shoes. He was smiling and waving at Jade, as he knew her already. “Hello, there, Miss Thirlwall,” he said to her and shook her hand with both of his enthusiastically. His black hair was greying a bit behind his ears, but still covering his entire round head. His cheeks were red too, but a little less than Jade’s, and he seemed genuinely excited about this whole thing. “It’s good to see you. I hope you weren’t too cold out there in the snow?” His accent was American, and Jade guessed something southern like Alabama, Louisana or how they were all called (she knew her surroundings and most of England’s geography, but she had never really bothered learning the names of the US American States).

Jade shook her head with a grateful smile and unzipped her parka, revealing that she too wore a Christmas jumper. It was red with green and white horizontal stripes and a couple of yellow stars all over it. The man clapped his hands excitedly at the sight and nodded, “well, the mall has opened half an hour ago and since it’s a Tuesday, I don’t expect too many people here just yet, so you don’t have to worry about being stressed. I know, Christmas may be a stressful season for both shoppers and sellers, but believe me, it’s going to be amazing.”

Jade nodded and was really glad she got a job like this – her boss seemed nice enough and to really like what he was doing, which was always a pro. And if it wasn’t too busy, she would surely enjoy it just as much and it might be easy money. She had done some selling jobs in the last couple of years since she’d been allowed to work and it was always in clothing stores or fast food restaurants, so this was something new, and she hoped to enjoy it.

“Alright then, I’m gonna go through everything with you and then I need to leave you for an hour. You think you can manage that?” Jade nodded her head and focused instantly, not wanting to mess anything up on her first day. She could do this.

It wasn’t hard for her to figure out how to hold the wreaths and how to apply decorations like candles, small cinnamon rolls, golden stars and other pieces and ornaments. The only struggle she had was with wrapping them without breaking the bag, but eventually she also managed that and her boss – who had introduced himself eventually as Fred Howard – left her then for an hour.

He was right when he said that there wouldn’t be much to do for now, and as the minutes passed, Jade found herself a bit bored. She started looking at the ornaments and decorations of the mall. There were a lot of stars everywhere and fairy lights and baubles hanging from the top wall. The people working inside the proper shops were talking to each other animatedly and quite loudly, so it didn’t appear too empty. A few people walked by her as well, but barely anyone walked up to her – and those few who did usually only looked and then left again.

“Hi, I need two wreaths please,” a female voice brought her out of her daze and she nodded with a smile. The woman in front of her wore a white beanie on top of her platinum blonde hair and her cheeks and nose were red like everyone else’s. Jade couldn’t help but smile at her appearance and grin even more when she noticed the melting snow layer on top of her shoulders and head.

“Of course, ma’am,” she giggled, because the woman couldn’t be older than her, if she was even her age. “What would you like? A round one, a line, one to hang on your door, one to put on the table? A certain colour for the candles or baubles?”

The woman blinked in confusion and Jade couldn’t help but giggle again. It was sort of embarrassing. “I’m sorry, I suppose that was too much information at once. Do you have an image in your head of what you’d want it to look like? We’ve also got some over here that you could pick out.” She pointed over to a pile of finished wreaths with red and green bows and stars blinking from underneath the mess of fir needles.

The blonde stretched her neck to get a closer look at those and took a step forward, placing her hands on the counter. She wore white mittens but then she tugged on them a bit to reveal her fingers – apparently they were hybrid gloves where you could take out your fingers. “I would like that one with the purple bow and the cinnamon rolls, please,” she murmured and pointed at it. “And could you make another one after your own ideas? One that you’d like to put up in your home?”

Jade looked at the blonde for a second before nodding her head and smiling before turning around and looking at all the different things she could put on a wreath. She wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted so she went for the classical style – a few red baubles, a few stars and a bow. She showed it to the blonde, who tilted her head to the side and contemplated the work in front of her. “Hmm…” She started before nodding her head very slowly. “It’s alright for now, I guess you’re new here.”

Jade frowned but packed the two wreaths anyway. “That’s eighteen pounds, please.”

The blonde nodded her head and gave Jade the exact amount of money – so no tips from her first customer. “You aren’t too involved in the arts, are you? Like, dancing, writing, drawing, anything like that?”

Jade looked at her with drawn eyebrows, her lips pursed into a thin line. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but you’re sort of in the way of my next customer,” she muttered and nodded her head and the couple behind the blonde. A ginger haired woman and a white haired man were standing there and frowning at the young blonde.

The girl just shrugged and smiled than, taking a step to the side. “See you soon.” And off she was.

…

“How much are the wreaths at your stall?” Jesy asked while zapping through the channels. Her legs were lying on the glass table in front of her, and she was wearing fluffy boots to warm her toes. Although they had a working heating, they didn’t turn it on too much because they didn’t want to pay too much for the electricity bill. Living in London wasn’t always that easy, but so far they had managed with saving a bit where it wasn’t that needed.

So now Jade and Jesy were lying on the sofa, wrapped up in a lilac blanket and their bodies tangled beneath to keep each other warm. Jesy had always liked putting her feet on the table, and although Jade had argued with her about it a lot the first couple months they lived together, she was fine with it now.

“Depends on how custom they are and how much stuff you put on. The ones that Fred and I prepare beforehand are eight pounds, the customised are ten and if there’s more stuff on them than average, we’re charging an extra pound,” Jade explained before yawning loudly and stretching her arm outside the blanket. She shivered then and hurried to place her in hand back where it was warm and safe. “I’m not too sure if that’s expensive or cheap because I never really bought any wreaths, it was always my mum.”

Jesy nodded her head and finally stilled while zapping through the channels. She had picked some American TV show neither of them recognised, but both of them were too tired and cold to actually really care what was going on – Jade was, in fact, very tired, because around six in the afternoon a lot of people came and she and Fred had been really busy selling and creating some wreaths for the impatient and greedy customers.

She’d almost forgotten how busy it could be sometimes and the faces of the people she talked to today swam in front of her vision. There had been so many people, that she could never in a million years recognise any of them; although… one customer had intrigued her. Jade only remembered she had platinum blonde hair and had worn white hybrid gloves, but the rest of her face was gone. For some reason it made the girl sad – not that she’d expected anything out of this job except a bit extra money for Christmas, which was now only twenty-three days away, but still. She remembered that the girl looked pretty, but not exactly in what way…

“Are you even listening?” Jesy asked and poked her friend in the side, causing Jade’s body to twitch uncomfortably. Jesy had forgotten how sensitive the younger girl was and didn’t manage to dodge the elbow that was accidentally pressed into her ribs. “Ouch, careful there.”

Jade blushed a bit and apologised sheepishly before yawning once more. “’m sorry, it was so busy today that I can’t think anymore… I really need to sleep, I suppose.”

“Alright, then,” the older girl murmured and rolled over. She pressed her lips to Jade’s cheek for a second before lifting herself up from the sofa and stretching, holding tightly to the blanket.

The younger girl curled up immediately. “Oy, it’s freezing, you can’t just take the blanket away without a warning!” She complained and hurried to get up as well. “You have to turn off the whole stuff now because I need a blanket now. Good night!”

Jesy only laughed quietly before Jade hurried into her room and slipped under the duvets without a second thought. She felt her eyes drooping and her limbs to become heavy, so she turned over, wrapping her arm around her big teddy bear, and fell asleep almost as quickly as she had taken her position in bed.

…

The next day was a bit warmer than the day previous, which Jade was more than grateful for when she was on her way to the stall in the morning. It didn’t snow, and it didn’t seem as if it had snowed during the night either, which made her worry again then – not that she really liked the cold, but what was the cold good for when there was no snow? After all had it been a couple of years now that she hadn’t had snow for Christmas, so it was about time already (of course the reason for that could also be that she moved to London from the north of the UK, where it was cooler in winter).

By the time Jade reached her working place, Fred was already busy making new wreaths and selling a few to a huge group of people, who were already queuing up for one each. Jade hurried over and quickly threw off her jacket before she smiled at the girl in front of the stall – she looked like about sixteen – and helped Fred out a bit. “Sorry, I’m late,” she murmured apologetically, but the male only waved her off and smiled,

“It was only a few minutes, and it’s not too bad, we’ve only just opened. Could you please prepare some wreaths while I sell? I’d like to have about thirty prepared, and I’ve made four so far; I’ll take care of the customers.”

She nodded firmly and turned her back to the crowd to clear her head and focus on her job – not that it was very hard to put some decoration on a pile of green needles, but she liked to make them a bit more individual and not all the same.

After a while, she felt her wrists feel uncomfortable so she twisted them a bit and turned them around to relax the muscles a bit. She did the same with her neck since she’d been staring down for about half an hour now without moving it too much, and of course she didn’t want it to become stiff.

“Hey,” a voice called her out of her daze and before she looked up, Jade answered, “sorry, would you please come to the other side of –” Her voice broke off when she saw the platinum blonde from yesterday smile at her, her cheeks and nose just as red as yesterday.

Jade couldn’t fight the urge to smile at the woman in front of her although she tried – which surely looked awkward, so she gave it up and practically grinned. “Oh, it’s you.”

The blonde looked surprised for a second, but her smile was equally as wide after she heard the words, and Jade couldn’t help but feel butterflies in her stomach. There was no denying the woman in front of her looked pretty, stunning even, and how could she not feel flattered when such a beauty was _smiling_ at her like this? “You remember me,” the blonde grinned.

Jade nodded her head and looked around at Fred, who seemed too busy with other customers to notice Jade wasn’t exactly fulfilling her duty. Anyone else might have felt glad about this, but she only felt guilty, considering she had also been late anyway. “Sorry, I’m really busy right now. If you want to hand back your wreath, could you please queue anyway? I apologise for the inconvenience.”

The blonde looked confused for a second before she laughed. “Oh, I’m not here to give it back. I’m here to buy another one. I’ll check by later, when you’re less busy though.” With that she was already off; actually _skipping_ away and Jade couldn’t help but giggle.

After a couple of seconds she was sort of angry with herself for not trying to remember the girl’s face some more – although she had fallen asleep right away due to her tiredness, she woke up wondering what the female looked like and that was also why she had taken ages in the shower. Because she was thinking about her of course – not something else…

Jade shook her head to shake off the thoughts about the blonde as well, trying to focus on her work. She was nowhere near thirty wreaths (probably eleven by now, but she was too lazy to count them for now) so she better hurry – Fred was very nice to her and all but he was still her boss and he surely wouldn’t like it if she just stood there and did nothing. She did receive money for this after all, and maybe there were people who’d take every chance to avoid actually working at their job but she wasn’t really one of those people (at least very rarely) because she felt guilty about it.

While she was wrapping a pink bow and pinning it to the wreath, her mind drifted off once more to the blonde and she wondered what her name could be. She looked almost like a Barbie, and although she wore too many layers to tell for sure, Jade kind of knew that she was extremely fit (adding up to her beautiful face). And although Jade knew that the female was amazingly pretty she realised that her face was once more just a blurry image in her mind since she had only seen her for a couple of minutes again.

Sighing she looked at the wreath in front of her with a frown written upon her features. “Oh, don’t you worry,” a male voice said and she shook her head startled to look up at him. She blushed deeply and wondered if she had spoken any of her thoughts aloud, but Fred said, “I think your wreaths look amazing. Just keep doing your thing and don’t worry if you don’t like it – beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and I’m sure many, many people will still love it anyway.” He smiled warmly at the girl before turning back to an upcoming customer.

Well, at least he didn’t notice she was deep in thought.

One broken bauble and twenty minutes later the first storm of customers slowly died down and both Jade and Fred took a deep breath and leaned back against the wood of the stall’s walls. During this season so many people came to the mall every day and she knew she’d probably be one of them if it wasn’t for her being tied to her duty. But at least she could go shopping in a couple of days, when Fred planned to close the stall for two days to give them both a break – he realised how popular they were (and he all blamed it on Jade because he kept praising her beautiful work, although she didn’t quite agree) and thought they’d both deserve a break soon already. Unlike in other shops Jade didn’t have any free days, so that’s why he decided to not even open it for these two days to give them both some time to relax.

“Would you mind if I went and got myself a cup of coffee? I’d buy you one as well, if you wanted to,” Fred murmured and looked around to see that nobody was walking towards them right now.

“Oh, no thank you. And I’m gonna be alright, just go,” she encouraged him with a nod of her head and watched as the male left the stall again and headed towards one of the coffee shops down the hall and around the corner. It didn’t take long for her to become bored and she sighed, tugging on one of the bows in the big carton box. It was blue with silver ornaments and it almost looked like there was snow on the tips of the band.

“Hello there,” a voice called out and caused Jade’s head to snap up. Involuntarily and without even noticing, Jade’s features turned into a deeply prominent smile as she recognised the girl almost immediately. “Are you less busy now? You seem quite un-busy.”

“I’m busy with playing with this bow,” Jade replied jokingly and picked it up and out of the box to show it to the girl in front of her. “I heard it’s supposed to be a fantastic toy for children.”

The other girl laughed quite loudly then, her eyes turning into slits and Jade’s stomach did a flip – she was the reason for this beautiful sound and it made her pretty damn happy with herself. “I suppose I should buy one of them for mine then,” the blonde replied and Jade blinked a couple of times in surprise.

She didn’t look old enough for children, let alone one even, but the thought of her being happily with someone else and having children… somehow bothered her. It was strange because, yes, she did find her extremely attractive, but she had also only seen her like two times – literally. It was stupid of her to react in such a way and she felt herself frowning. Shaking her head she smiled and asked, “So, you wanted to buy another wreath?”

The blonde looked at her and tilted her head to the side, considering. Jade wondered if she had noticed her sudden distance now that she knew the blonde probably had children, and she immediately felt bad, but didn’t know how to change it now. Also, she didn’t know how else she would have reacted. “Uh, yeah,” the female murmured and seemed a bit distracted. “Uh, right, so. Like yesterday, please. One of those finished and one you would put up in your own house.”

Jade nodded her head and picked out the wreath with the pink daisies tucked between the green needles and wrapped it up before she put it on the counter and turned away to look at all the possible decorations. The blonde hadn’t seemed to like the traditional one, because she seemed a bit artistic. So this time, Jade went for something a bit more extravagant and put baubles in complementary colours beside each other and a bow in all the colours of the rainbow at the top and the bottom of the ring. She didn’t know if she personally would put it up in her own apartment but then again the blonde didn’t have to know about that.

“How do you like this one?” She asked the customer and smiled, presenting the colourful circle by lifting it up with both her hands as good as possible without ruining it.

Pushing her lips out and looking at the wreath she shrugged. “Well, I guess you can say that you put definitely more thought into that one than the one yesterday, but I still think that it requires some more… consideration for you.” She looked at Jade and then back at the wreath and then back at Jade, repeating the action a couple of times. The brunette didn’t know what to make out of that answer and was unsure whether to wrap it up or to put it back and start anew. “Well, what are you waiting for?” The blonde asked with a laugh, “aren’t you gonna wrap it up and let me pay for it?”

Jade nodded without hesitation and did her job, being as careful as she could and before she could tell the other female the price, she was nineteen pounds lying on the counter. “It’s alright that way. See you tomorrow,” and once again the blonde skipped away.


	2. Chapter 2

Jesy didn’t come home ‘til late that day because she had dancing classes with her own dance group (and not the children she taught) and they always had their classes in the later afternoon. Sometimes – or basically all the time, really – she and her colleagues would go out when they were done and get something to drink and eat together. Jesy’s colleagues really liked Jade because the older girl often let her flat mate tag along after practise, so they’d gotten to know the brunette from the North a bit as well.

At first, Jade hadn’t liked to go with because she was tired from work yet again, but then she found her thoughts drifting off to the blonde female and she quickly decided to get into something nicer than her onesie and get out of the flat. It was sort of ridiculous, considering they hadn’t known each other at all until two days ago and Jade couldn’t stop thinking about her, how pretty she looked and how nice her laugh was and… that she apparently had children. Not even one child, no, but children. Maybe those were the ones she bought all the wreaths for, although she could not remember that being on her wish list in all her life when she was younger – or at all.

Sighing, Jade got into her heels and shook her head – it was time she stopped thinking about it! She didn’t even know the blonde’s name, for heaven’s sake, and she was developing an unnatural obsession over the girl. Yes, she was pretty, but obviously someone else noticed before her… not that it was fair because Jade hadn’t had the chance to talk to her until recently… but whatever. First come, first serve.

She knew where the dancing crew was hanging out, so she didn’t question Jesy any further when she invited her to hang out with them and just said she’d be there in a couple minutes. She got into her car – she didn’t like to use it when she left for work because it really wasn’t far away and you’d hardly ever find a parking spot at the mall considering how many people were there every day – and started the vehicle easily, rolling out of her spot. The drive was short and when Jade got out of the car, she regretted not having taking her coat with her but her parka. She was only wearing tights to protect her legs from the cold and it was definitely _not_ enough. Shivering, she hurried inside the bar (after locking her car, which Jesy always forgot) and got on her tip toes to find her friend. It was quite hard to do so because her heels were already so high that there was barely anything left for her to stand on, but somehow she managed; she sometimes really hated being short.

“Jade!” A voice shouted and the called girl turned her head to spot her friend waving at her. “I’m glad you could make it!” She said less loudly once she engulfed the younger girl into a hug and smiled at her. “I thought you said you didn’t wanna come today?”

“Changed my mind last second,” Jade laughed and pushed some of her hair out of her face. “It’s freezing out there, though. Weren’t you cold on your way here from the gym?” She knew the way from the gym wasn’t that long, but at the same time the way from her car to the bar was even shorter, and she almost froze her arse off.

“Oh, it was alright. Jake kept me warm,” she giggled and blushed, causing her friend to raise an eyebrow at her. She knew Jake, naturally, as he was always tagging along to the clubbing after the dancing practise, but he was usually more quiet than the others. He wasn’t much of a dancer, according to Jesy, but not because he couldn’t do it but because he didn’t really want to. Although it had started out as only a dancing group, they had somehow managed to make it a whole show with a band and dancing group and sometimes even a little acting – their shows were almost sort of musicals.

“Jake?” The younger girl asked. “Jake Roche, who’s the singer in the band?”

Jesy nodded her head and blushed even more, if that was possible, and looked over to where said Jake was sipping on a pint and talking to one of the dancer guys, who was named Sam. Jake, whose hair and eyes were dark and who had a little stubble around his chin, glanced over to where Jade and Jesy were talking. He rose his glass as a sort of greeting and the younger girl could only chuckle when she heard her flat mate giggle like a school girl. Jade had known about her crush on Jake for a while now and she’d tried to encourage her for a while now that she should maybe take the first step if that oblivious guy didn’t do anything, but she had seemed to shy – Jade was glad for her friend, if she was being honest. She loved seeing Jesy happy and she’d do anything to keep it that way. “So… what’s going on between you two?”

Jesy waved her hand and shook her head with a giggle, “Oh, nothing. We’re just friends.”

“Oh, come on,” the other girl said and rolled her eyes. “Go, talk to him! Let him know you’re interested! Who could ever turn down this sexy señorita right here in front of me, huh? I’m sure he’s just shy!”

“But I’m a bit old-school,” Jesy murmured. “When it comes to loving, I ain’t chasing the boy.”

“C’mon, now. We’re emancipated women of the twenty-first century. I’m not saying you should go over there and make out with him right away, but show him you’re interested by talking to him! And then tell me everything,” with a wink she pushed her friend in the right direction and almost into Jake, who laughed and even though there was a bit of distance between them, Jade could hear him ask if she was alright. Okay, alright, that was hopefully and probably a good idea. She loved playing matchmaker.

After that she started talking and dancing with some of the boys and girls of the dancing group, the band and also the actors, but without ever really letting Jesy and Jake out of sight. She kind of trusted Jake, but she also wanted to make sure everything was working alright between the two of them – maybe she was a bit too protective over her friend sometimes.

But at the same time she knew that Jesy wouldn’t be much different when it came to her. She’d protect her younger flat mate to the end and be there for her when she was sad about whatever, and be it a broken pencil. They could laugh together and have fun and just be there for each other and that was probably the reason why they had been friends for the past seventeen years, although Jesy was older than Jade – even if it was only one and a half years.

Since Sam’s chat partner was now seemingly preoccupied with more important business, the dark haired male walked over to where Jade stood and greeted her with a raise of his drink. It was sort of awkward between them because they had been dating for almost two years until she realised that she wasn’t quite into boys – she had told him honestly why she couldn’t be with him anymore, and he seemed understanding, though he often tried to make her remember their times together in the hopes of them getting back together.

It made Jade kind of uncomfortable but she also didn’t want to be rude to Sam, because she knew how much he had cared about her. “Hey, Sam,” she greeted him with a smile and sat down on the stool Jesy had used before Jade had forced her off.

“Hey there. I see you haven’t got a drink yet. What would you like?” He was charming as always, and Jade hoped he’d find someone who would appreciate him the way he deserved because she knew she just couldn’t give him what he wanted and needed, although he obviously liked to believe so.

Jade shrugged her shoulders and looked at the female bartender. Her hair was a vibrant red and she barely wore any makeup, yet her eyes stood out incredibly and she smiled at Jade and Sam, before walking over to the two of them. “Hey Sam and Jade,” she greeted them, “what can I do for you?”

“Just some Coke, please, I’m driving,” the girl answered and waited for the bartender to go and fetch a bottle. She poured the black liquid into a glass and handed it to Jade, but before she could get out her wallet, Sam had already put the money on the table. “You don’t have to do that… I could’ve paid myself.”

“It’s a pleasure,” the male replied with a smile and a nod. He looked over to where Jesy and Jake were chatting and when Jade followed his gaze, she couldn’t help but grin at the scene. They were both smiling at each other and leaning into each other but neither of them seemed brave enough to dare touch the other. It was sort of painful to watch but at the same time so incredibly cute that she wanted to squish them both. “God, aren’t they adorable,” she groaned and took a sip of her Coke. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I had to celebrate Christmas either alone or with these two drooling all over each other in the living room while I’m burning down the kitchen.”

Sam had just been drinking and almost snorted out his drink when he tried not to laugh but failed miserably. “Oh my god,” he laughed, “why can I picture that so well?”

Jade scoffed jokingly and looked at him challenging. “You should have said ‘oh no, you’re not gonna be alone’ or at least tell me that my cooking skills aren’t that terrible.”

“If I remember correctly you always made me cook because you were scared of burning down everything,” Sam laughed and Jade took a quick gulp of her Coke so she wouldn’t have to answer to that – because what exactly was she supposed to say? Their relationship had ended four years ago and Jade hadn’t had anyone else in the meantime – well, no one proper. There had been the occasional relief after a night out or the one-date-and-to-hopefully-never-see-you-again types, but that didn’t really count.

Suddenly there was an image of the platinum blonde in front of her vision again and quietly she cursed for letting herself think of her – again. Which had actually been the reason why she’d come along eventually, but whatever. “Well, I think I better go,” Sam said and put his empty beer glass on the counter. “I have an early shift tomorrow. See you soon, Jade, and enjoy the rest of your night.” He smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek for good bye, like they had always done, and then he walked away.

Jade waved and said her good byes as well and watched as he left before she looked back to where Jesy and Jake were still too shy to do anything proper. Rolling her eyes, Jade hopped off the stool and walked over to the two of them. “Hey, there!” She greeted and Jesy’s eyes widened before she jumped away from Jake a bit, suddenly realising how close they stood to each other. “You know what, Jess, I think you need another drink,” Jade smiled and nodded at the empty glass in her hand.

“Oh, what do you want?” Jake immediately jumped in and offered her a big smile. “It’s on me.”

Jesy giggled and shook her head, “That’s really sweet of you, but you don’t have to.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Jake smiled at her and even though Jade felt completely ignored, she didn’t mind one bit. Jesy ordered her drink, for which the male paid and they clinked their glasses before both taking a sip and looking each other in the eye all the time. It was sort of really embarrassing to Jade that they couldn’t grow some balls and finally do _something_. They chatted a bit and it seemed to Jade as if they had totally forgotten she stood right next to them, but she counted it as a good sign – it seemed as if Jake was just as smitten with Jesy as the girl was with him.

Jade pretended to lean over the counter and ‘accidentally’ bumped into Jesy, causing her to stumble forward and right into Jake, who, of course, immediately caught her and grinned down at her. Both their cheeks were coloured a deep shade of red and they both giggled. The female got up but the male left his arms around her and Jade sent a thanks to the heavens, hoping they would finally realise they were both really interested in each other. Even a blind one could see how heart eyes they were for each other (and yes, Jade really imaged the emoji to that in her head).

She then walked over to a group of the dancers, who were laughing and talking loudly, and greeted her with warm hellos. The next two hours passed by in a blur and Jade almost forgot about her friend and the singer at the bar here with the others but when a few of them left, Jade thought as well that it was time for the two of them to leave and get home, especially since Jesy had her dancing class with the younger ones tomorrow morning.

She looked over to where she had last seen the two of them but noticed that they were no long there. “Have any of you seen Jake or Jesy?” She asked the few people who were still sitting at the table, but all of them shook their heads. The female checked her phone and saw she had received a message from Jesy, saying she needn’t worry because she was safe, but would probably not make it home before tomorrow after class.

Jade laughed and shook her head, pocketing her phone and getting up. She said her goodbyes to the rest of the group before she left the club. It was even colder outside, if that was possible, and when Jade got into her car, she immediately turned on the heating. By the time she was home, it had only started to work so she was still freezing. The flat was cool, dark and empty and when Jade undressed, she was glad to be able to slip under the hopefully warm covers soon. Sighing she hugged her teddy bear, wishing it was someone else, someone who could warm her up, and then she fell asleep.

…

 The next day the blonde came to the stall again but this time she didn’t have to wait because there was barely any business today. Jade had been working for three hours today already and she could count the customers she’d talked to on one hand.

When she saw the female walking closer, she already started grinning madly, but cursed herself once more because she probably had a family. “Good morning,” Jade smiled at her and dug her nails into the palms of her hand.

“Hey there. How was the rest of your day yesterday?” She asked with a grin and took off her gloves. It made Jade’s stomach turn because it somehow meant that she intended to stay longer here than just a couple of minutes, right?

Jade tugged on a strand of her hair before she nodded, “alright, I went out with my roommate and her friends. It was loads of fun.”

The blonde seemed to consider the answer and nodded her head and it made Jade wonder what she wanted from her, really. Obviously she was here to buy wreaths (or at least had been the last two times) but why exactly was she engaging in so much private conversation with Jade? She had never been talking to Fred, and yesterday it seemed as if she had waited for him to leave so she could talk to her… On the other hand, it could have been coincidence and she just wanted to wait for the majority of the people to disappear so she could buy her wreaths in calm… but then again, why did she say _“I’ll come back when you’re less busy”_? Maybe she hadn’t solely meant Jade with that ‘you’… Yeah, that was probably it.

“That’s nice.”

“Oh, um, what did you do?” Jade asked quickly and blushed, realising how rude she had been by being so in thought.

The blonde’s face turned into a grin as fast as she always disappeared and she even clapped her hands in excitement. “Oh, I went outside with my children to build igloos and snowmen. But let me tell you, it was really freaking cold outside and I was really glad when they were all too tired to continue and we could finally go back inside. I wish I could’ve taken a bath, but all of them wanted one too, so there was no more warm water for us adults.”

Frowning Jade tilted her head to the side. How many children exactly did she have? “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be rude, but when exactly did you have your first child?”

The blonde blinked at her with wide eyes in confusion before she laughed and shook her head, “Oh my god, I think you misunderstood… I think I should have clarified that – _I_ don’t have any children. I’m working and living in an orphanage. There’s seventeen of them, but none of them are mine and one is only like four years younger than me.”

A wave of relief flooded through Jade and she couldn’t help but smile widely. “Oh,” was all she could say and she saw the blonde’s face shift. Although she had seemed happy before, she looked even happier now and even pleased. “Um. How old would that be if you don’t mind me asking?”

“He’s seventeen. I’m twenty-one.”

Jade’s eyes spotted Fred coming around the corner from the coffee shop and she cleared her throat, “Sorry, I completely forgot why you’re even here.” That probably sounded weird. What else would she have come here for? And how could she forgot? Oh god, she was embarrassing herself so much, and now she even felt her cheeks turning red, which was even more embarrassing. “Uh, what do you want today?”

“You know what I want,” the blonde smiled and leaned on the counter, batting her eye lashes once, twice.

Jade blinked at her vividly, not really knowing if she had understood her correctly. What… what was that supposed to mean? She tried not to let her weird thoughts interfere with her work so she cleared her throat and nodded her head, wrapping one of the prettier ones Fred had made this morning. Then she proceeded to make another wreath on her own, putting a lot of red and pink coloured baubles and bows on it. She even put two more stars on it and showed it to the blonde, who nodded her head.

“You’re really getting better,” she smiled when she handed Jade twenty pounds now after she received the wreaths.

When Fred arrived at the stall he handed Jade a caramel frappuccino and looked after the blonde, who was – once again – skipping away from the stall with two new wreaths. “Jade, are you alright?” He laughed and looked at the female’s face, “you’re as red as a tomato.”

She took a deep breath and hid her face behind her hands, “Oh my god, this is so embarrassing,” she whined and shook her head vividly. “I’m sorry.”

The male raised his eyebrows with a smirk, “Oh, don’t you worry, I get you. I didn’t even see her properly but even I can tell how pretty she looked.” He laughed and took a sip from his coffee.

With wide eyes Jade looked at the male and blinked, which she seemed to do a lot when she didn’t understand something. “What? I – what. No, you… I mean. That’s not.”

The male laughed and waved his hand, “No need to explain. I know what a crush is once I see one. What’s her name?”

Jade opened her mouth but closed it right again, her face dropping as she frowned. “It’s funny because that’s the fourth time she came here and I still don’t know – I always forget to ask her.”

“Well, I think you should do it next time she comes. How come I’ve never seen her before?” He asked curiously and tilted his head, wondering if he had seen her but never realised. “And how come she’s been here four times when this is only your third day?”

Jade blushed and let her head drop.

“Alright, alright, I’m asking too many questions,” the man laughed and nodded. “Drink your coffee and I’ll make some more wreaths, alright?”


	3. Chapter 3

When Jade came home after work, it smelled deliciously in the flat. She shouted a hello into the apartment as she slipped out of her boots and her parka and placed her purse on the floor. As she got no reply, she slowly made her way into the kitchen where she saw Jesy sitting on the counter and laughing at something the male at the stove had just said and when Jade entered the room with raised eyebrows, both of their heads turned around in shock. “Hey, Jade,” Jesy muttered with a blush on her cheeks and the younger female couldn’t help but grin.

“Hi Jesy, hi Jake,” she grinned and walked into the room. “What are you cooking?”

“Spaghetti,” Jake answered and looked into the pan. “Do you want some as well? I think we made way too much for two people anyway because we didn’t know when you’d be home… so we kind of just hoped you’d be hungry.”

“You thought correctly,” Jade replied and nodded her head. “I’m starving. Also, since when are the two of you here?”

“For about an hour now,” Jesy murmured with a look on her phone.

Jade nodded and looked at the counter where Jesy was sitting. She pointed at it with a finger but without touching the surface and with a smug grin she asked, “I can still eat on this, can’t I?”

The other two coughed and blushed deeply and didn’t dare to look at neither each other nor Jade when they nodded their heads vividly, “Jade, oh my god, get out!” Jesy shouted in embarrassment but without really being angry. She shoved her friend in the shoulder, who just laughed and apologised quickly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m glad you’re here, Jake, and I will stop making jokes now. Okay? It was just this one, I’m sorry.”

“I swear to God,” Jesy muttered and sighed. “Next time you’re bringing someone home, I’m going to embarrass you so much, seriously.”

Jade grinned and the thought of her here with the blonde made her head spin a little. Her stomach did turns and she had to take a deep breath because what the fuck was that. She simply thought about having her here for even less than a second and she was reacting this strongly. “Jade? Are you okay?” Jesy asked worriedly and when Jade’s vision focused on her surroundings again, she noticed she held her stomach and looked probably very pale. Both Jake and Jesy looked at her with worry in their eyes and guided her over to one of the chairs.

The male handed her a glass of water immediately, which she drank and smiled at the two of them. “Sorry, I guess I’m just a bit tired from work. I don’t know what just happened, sorry for making you worry.”

“Why don’t you lie down on the sofa and I’ll bring you a cup of tea and when the food’s ready I’ll get you, alright?” Her roommate offered with a smile and already helped her up and walked with her into the living room, where she sat down with Jade. “Are you sure you’re okay?” She asked more quietly.

Jade nodded her head. She didn’t want to tell Jesy about this ridiculous crush on someone she didn’t even know, especially because Jesy would be worried and she seemed to happy now that there was _finally_ something happening between her and Jake and Jade didn’t want to ruin the mood. “Yeah, I’m sure I’ll be fine once I’ve relaxed a bit. I’m really just tired. And also I didn’t really eat anything today, I’m sure it’s that.” She smiled comfortingly. “Now, go back to Jake, I’m sure he’s already missing you.” She winked teasingly and shoved her lightly, making her friend get up.

With one last glance towards Jade, who replied with a smile, Jesy walked back into the kitchen where she spoke in a hush voice with her new found boyfriend. Or at least that’s what Jade assumed he was – after all, a one night stand wouldn’t come to her flat to cook spaghetti if he didn’t want to be more than just that; a one night stand.

When they ate spaghetti later, Jade made as much conversation as possible because whenever it was quiet on the table, the other two would look at her all worried and it irritated her quite a bit because she hated thinking about earlier – she didn’t even know the name of that girl and she was just a customer, even if she was a really pretty and friendly one.

Needless to say, her reaction was over the top and she really needed to sort out her priorities and if she wanted to get something out of this whole thing between her and the blonde, she would have to at least ask her for her name. How could it be that she knew her age and what she worked as but had no idea what her name was?

She looked up from her food to realise she had neither been talking for a couple of minutes nor really touched her food (playing with the fork inside of the plate didn’t really count) and Jake and Jesy looked at her, chewing on their own food. “Jade, are you sure you’re alright?”

Rolling her eyes the younger female looked at her friend. “Yes, Jesy, I said I’m just tired and thinking about stuff. Like, what am I gonna wear tomorrow? Because my only Christmas jumper got dirty so I’m gonna have to find something else for tomorrow. I was just thinking about things like these. It was really busy today, so excuse me if I’m tired.”

Jesy nodded her head and smiled, “I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m worried about you. I guess we read too much into it.”

‘We.’ Jade couldn’t help but smile at the choice of words Jesy had made there and both of them looked confused why she was suddenly smiling. They probably thought she was insane by now, but to be perfectly frank, she didn’t really care. “It’s alright. I’m not really hungry anymore. Thanks, Jake, for the delicious food, and I hope Jesy’s bed is big enough for you two. I’m going to bed now.”

“Idiot!” Jesy shouted after her laughing when Jade was almost inside of her room.

Tonight it took her a while to fall asleep.

…

“It’s really busy today once again,” Fred murmured with a frown. They were both selling at the same time, which they hadn’t done before because it had been busy, but never as many people as before so it wasn’t needed that both of them worked on the same thing at the same time.

“Yup,” Jade replied as she took the money from a customer with a smile. “Seems like our coffee break has to wait a bit today.”

The male laughed as he wrapped a wreath and then handed it to another customer. There weren’t many left of the ones they had prepared in the morning and they were afraid they’d run out of them because neither of them felt like they could just abandon the other with the people. “Okay, okay, Jade, I think we need more wreaths. I’ll be alright, please just make some more quickly.”

Jade nodded her head and talked to one more customer before she turned her attention to the wreaths. She had no idea where Fred got all the stuff from, but she was glad as long as they had enough every day. After about half an hour Jade had prepared quite a lot of them and there were less people, so they both sped down a bit and relaxed. It only took about ten more minutes until there was not a single person left at the stall – for now – and they could both take a deep breath.

“I think we have really deserved our coffee break today,” Fred laughed and Jade nodded her head with a smile,

“I think you’re right. I’ll wait here as always.” Almost anticipating, she waited for Fred to disappear. He was always gone for more than just two minutes, which she’d think was the average time you’d need to queue, order and pay, but Jade didn’t really care what he did because usually the blonde would appear in these minutes he was gone.

She kept looking at the people and felt her stomach do a nervous turn every time she saw a blonde person only to be disappointed when it wasn’t the one she was waiting for. She almost gave up hope that she’d even turn up today, when someone said from behind her, “Hey there.”

Jade turned around a bit too quickly and stumbled over her own feet and right into a box of bows, which then all fell onto the floor within the booth. “Oh my God, I’m sorry,” the blonde muttered and looked over the counter. “Do you want me to come and help you? I mean, I need to ask for permission, don’t I?”

Jade looked up at her with wide eyes from the floor and it was really strange but the ceiling lights were right behind the blonde’s head and it really looked like a halo. She sighed deeply before getting up and dusted herself off, shaking her head. “No, uh, I’ll clean it up later. How, uh, how are you?” What was wrong with her? Why on earth was she so nervous all of a sudden? It had worked perfectly fine the last couple of times they had talked and just because of a stupid overreaction yesterday she now reacted like this.

The blonde laughed and Jade felt the butterflies in her stomach. “I’m alright, it’s quite amusing here, to be honest. I was watching some of the people on the ice skating rink not too far from here on the way and I wondered if I could find someone to skate with because alone it’s quite boring and none of the kids have shoes, you know.”

Jade’s head was flooded with images of the two of them on the rink, holding hands and smiling and laughing and their faces red from the cold and their toes about to fall off but neither of them would care because they would enjoy it too much to give a damn… and once more she felt her head spin. “Are you okay?” The blonde asked. “You look a bit pale.”

“Oh, what a nice thing to say,” Jade said with a joking tone to lighten the mood. She hated herself for reacting like this because it was seriously so stupid. But whatever.

The blonde’s mouth fell open and her eyes widened as she waved her hands in a defending gesture – Jade noticed she wasn’t wearing her white gloves and with another look saw them lying on the counter between them. “No, no, I didn’t mean it like that. You look just as gorgeous as every day, I was just worried.”

“Why don’t you kill me now,” Jade whispered as quietly as she could as a reply she didn’t want the blonde to hear. Why on earth would she say such things? It only fuelled Jade’s childish imagination and her stupid hopes and. God. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“What?” The blonde asked with a tilt of her head. She seriously looked extremely adorable and Jade just wanted to kiss her right there. Ugh.

“Nothing,” Jade replied with a shake of her head and a smile on her lips. “Are you here to buy more wreaths?”

“That too, yes,” the blonde replied and it was probably the first time Jade saw her blushing and it made her stomach turn. She raised an eyebrow, but didn’t dare to question any further. She liked to pretend and even though it was stupid of her she didn’t want her hopes to be crushed in case the answer was anything else than ‘I also wanted to see you’. She wrapped one of the prepared wreaths and then looked at the blonde considering.

So far she had never _really_ been positively surprised by the wreaths Jade had made for her and to be perfectly frank, the girl didn’t know what the blonde wanted. She said she wanted one Jade would put up in her own flat… and she would put up anything, really, because it was always Jesy who bought them (even this year, but somewhere else… that traitor) and Jade just accepted the ones that they had in their apartment.

She would probably buy one that reminded her of the blonde… but Jade didn’t know anything about her except that she was twenty-one and worked in an orphanage. How could anything remind her of her? “I, uh. I don’t know what to do,” Jade replied honestly and looked at the blonde with a sad expression.

The blonde looked at her with wide eyes and clutched her chest; a gesture that made Jade very confused. She looked down at the naked wreath in front of her and then back at the blonde, who had looked up at the ceiling and whispering something. “Aw, don’t look so sad! It doesn’t matter,” she replied quickly and waved her hands. “Just do anything. I’m happy about whatever you give me.”

Jade blushed and quickly looked back down at the wreath before she sighed once more and pursed her lips in thought. She wanted to make the blonde happy about it for once, but seriously excited. Not just like this. Letting out a frustrated groan, she grabbed some bows and baubles and stars and pinned them to the wreath neatly. “Is that okay?” She asked with raised brows and unsure.

The blonde nodded her head with a soft smile and Jade noticed she had now also unzipped her jacket and leaned against the counter. It gave Jade this feeling of home and being domesticated and she saw Jake in front of her, making spaghetti, but instead of Jake it was suddenly the blonde and she groaned once more.

“No, don’t worry, I love it,” she smiled. “I’ll take it.”

Jade pushed out her lower lip and sighed with a nod before wrapping it and handing both of them to the blonde, who gave her twenty-one pounds this time. “It’s alright this way,” the blonde promised. “And don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get inspired soon and make wreaths not only your customers like but also you yourself!”

Jade felt her stomach do a nervous turn again at their proximity and she nodded her head with a sheepish smile. “Thanks, uh –”

“You’re welcome,” she replied with a smile and waved before skipping away. There went her chance to ask her for a name once more and Jade face palmed herself in annoyance. Why, oh why, couldn’t she just get the question out? It was so simple and easy to say and yet she always forgot to ask, too distracted by her simple presence.

Fred walked into the stall right that moment and handed Jade her frappuccino with a grin. “Your cheeks are even redder than yesterday,” he laughed. “I thought I’d give you two some more time today but I still had to wait and walk around the shops until she was gone. Sorry if your coffee is cold.”

“A frappuccino is always cold,” Jade laughed and placed her free hand on her cheek, hoping to cool it down a bit and make the embarrassing shade of red disappear from her cheeks. Customers would blame it on the cold but the problem was that Fred knew better, and he was the one she stood next to and therefore he was the one that mattered. “Anyway, I’ll just make some more wreaths now.” And with that she turned her back to the male and shut down her thoughts for a while.

Her eyes noticed something on the counter and with a surprised look she saw that the blonde had forgotten her gloves there. Jade took them to make sure nobody else would take them. With a little bit of luck the blonde would come back for them and they’d have another chat.

She didn’t come back today anymore.

…

“Hello? Anyone home?” Jade called into the flat when she came home that afternoon. This time she couldn’t smell anything and after a quick look on her phone she saw she also didn’t have any texts from Jesy that would tell her she’d be alone tonight.

“In the living room!” Jesy’s voice shouted back and the younger female made her way into said room, where the happy couple lay on the sofa in each other’s arms with a blanket lazily thrown onto them and popcorn and chocolate in their laps, Jesy’s feet on the glass table.

Jade looked at them with a grin before she sat down next to Jesy and looked at the TV, where they were watching Love Actually. “Hey, you two. How was your day?”

“Relaxed,” Jake answered and took a bite of the chocolate in his hand. “What about yours?”

“Busy, but not as bad as yesterday, I think,” Jade replied with a nod. “I suppose I’ll be alright. What have you two eaten? Except for popcorn and chocolate, I mean.”

Jesy giggled and shook her head, “I’m afraid nothing proper. We were too lazy to get off the sofa all day, sorry. But, we could order something? We haven’t eaten Chinese in forever. What do you say?” Her look changed from Jake to Jade and then back at the boy, who nodded his head, “Alright with me.”

Jade agreed as well before she looked at the two of them with a mildly disapproving look. “I suppose I’m also the one who has to get up and get the menu from the pin board?” Because, yes, they were that organised. At least Jade was (sometimes). Hopefully Jake was more organised than Jesy or else this flat would turn into a dumb within the next two weeks, if not even less.

“So, Jade,” Jesy murmured when Jake had gone to the toilet after they had all picked something and called the restaurant. “Does it bother you when Jake is here all the time? I know we haven’t really talked about it, I’m really sorry.”

“No, no, no, it’s really fine with me. I’m happy for you two and you deserve it. He seems nice enough and if you enjoy his presence, then I’m sure as hell not gonna take it away. If he keeps cooking as well as yesterday, I don’t mind one bit.”

Jesy giggled, “Oh, thank God you see it like that. And yes, he’s an amazing cook but I don’t think he’ll cook for us very often. I mean, he doesn’t live here, right? I mean, not yet anyway. I don’t even know if he’d want that, I mean, he has his own place and –”

“Calm down, Jesy,” Jade laughed and placed her hand on her friend’s mouth to shut her up. “It’ll all turn out alright between you two, I’m sure. You look really cute together and it was just a matter of time ‘til the two of you would end up together.” After these words she was almost crushed in a hug by her flat mate and she had to push her away so she wouldn’t suffocate. “Didn’t I just tell you to calm down, lady?” She laughed and then hugged her back anyway. “Love you.”

“Love you, too, poopey.”

“If Jake hears you call me that our friendship is over,” Jade threatened jokingly for which she received a poke in the sides. This time Jesy was prepared for her friend’s reaction and moved to the right in order to avoid receiving any accidental punches from her friend.

Jade would take her time telling Jesy about the blonde, because right now everything was about Jakesy – as Jade secretly liked to call them – and not about her. She could wait.


	4. Chapter 4

“Aren’t you going to go to work?” Jesy asked the next morning when she spotted Jade in the kitchen, eating cereals at ten in the morning. Usually she was at work by now and probably busy wrapping wreaths but to be honest, Jesy didn’t really know what her friend was really doing at her job.

“No, we’re closed for today and tomorrow.” For some reason it made her more sad than happy. Of course she was happy she had a day off, but the fact that she probably wouldn’t see the blonde today made her sort of sad. She had grown accustomed to seeing her every day now and getting to know her a little better. Yes, she still barely knew anything but at least she could properly see her face now in front of her inner eye when she thought about her.

“Oh that’s great! You could come shopping with me then today. I wanted to buy Christmas gifts and maybe check by your store. I’m glad I don’t have to do it alone now, though.”

“What about Jake?” Jade asked curiously. She was pretty sure he’d slept here today once more and although she hadn’t been up for long, she wouldn’t have noticed him leaving.

Jesy went over to where Jade sat and got out a bowl herself. She filled it with cereal and milk, sitting down and eating with her friend. “He had to leave at like five in the morning today for work. He works like an hour away from here in some big office – I was too tired in the morning to ask what it is properly and yesterday I, uh. You know. Anyway, I wanted to buy stuff for him anyway, so I couldn’t have tagged him along.”

“But you can tag me along?” Jade asked curiously. “Does this mean I’m not supposed to expect anything from you this Christmas?”

Jesy laughed and threw an arm around her friend, “Oh come on, you wouldn’t really think that, would you? Furthermore it’s your twenty-second birthday two days later! Don’t worry, I’ve already taken care of you because you’re the most important person on my list and basically the most important person in my life.”

“Aw, you’re so sweet!” Jade squealed and threw her arms around her friend to wrap her into a bone crushing hug. “I love you so much!”

“Calm down,” Jesy laughed and pushed her friend away. It was just like yesterday but the other way around. “But obviously I love you, too. Now, you better get ready!”

Forty-seven minutes later the two of them were wrapped into multiple layers of clothing, their hair and makeup down and their wallets ready to be emptied for the seasonal shopping. They got into Jade’s car and drove to the mall where Jade worked and it was a weird feeling for Jade to be one of the shoppers for once instead of one of the sellers and she almost felt bad for all the people who had to work today. Almost.

“Do you have anything in mind you’re going to get for him?” Jade asked her friend with a quick glance. As a response she got an almost immediate shake of her head, “no idea, to be perfectly frank.”

“Well, what does he like? Except for you?” Jade watched the blush on her friend’s cheeks with satisfaction spread all over her face and even the slap against her arm couldn’t make the grin disappear from her face. “I’m sure you’ll find something nice for him. Maybe something the two of you would enjoy,” she grinned and winked.

“Seriously, Jade, I’m going to embarrass you so much the day you bring someone home, I swear to God,” Jesy threatened but it didn’t really intimidate Jade when her older friend was blushing so deeply and keeping herself from giggling about this whole thing.

“You love it, really,” Jade replied and threw her a kiss. “Speaking of… I wanted to talk to you about something.” With that Jesy became more serious on an instant and listened carefully to her friend. “Uh, so, there’s this girl who comes to the wreath stall every day and I, uh, kinda find her really attractive? I don’t know. Um, forget it, it’s dumb.” Jade’s cheeks were on fire and she wanted to hide. She couldn’t believe she actually just said that, especially since Jesy would now mock and tease her for her little crush.

“Aw, you’re so sweet! What’s her name?”

Jade blinked her eyes and pouted, “I actually don’t know. I saw her five times in total now and I know her profession and her age and that’s really incredibly attractive and sweet but I have no idea what her name is. Probably something like Angel or Summer or anything fancy.”

“Hm…” Jesy murmured, “why don’t you ask her for her name? Do you think you’re gonna see her again?”

“Well, I hope so. She’s come to the stall every day now that I worked there but now I probably won’t see her for two days and who knows if she’s going to show up after that? Maybe she’s bought enough wreaths by now, I mean, I don’t know how many children she’s taking care of but she has eight already… Wreaths, I mean.”

“She has bought eight wreaths?” Jesy asked in disbelief. “What on earth does she need eight wreaths for?”

“I don’t know,” Jade whined, “but I’d love to know. I mean, I’d love to know everything about her. Is that weird? I’ve only seen her five times but I’m really disappointed when she leaves again and I want to spend more time with her and get to know her properly. God, I probably sound so dumb, I don’t even know her.”

“It’s alright,” the older girl smiled comfortingly. “Is that why you were freaking out the other day?” Jade nodded her head. “Alright, alright, come here,” she smiled and hugged her tightly. “It’s gonna be alright, you know? Just ask her for her name next time you see her and who knows? Maybe she’s even in the mall today in the hope of running into you.” She winked teasingly and poked her in the side, dodging the elbow effectively. “What could she need?”

Jade shrugged and pocketed her hands, feeling the gloves she had found on the counter yesterday. “Uh, gloves. She forgot hers yesterday at the stall.” Sheepishly she pulled them out and presented them to her friend. “I, uh, thought I’d keep them until she’d come back and ask for them. She didn’t come back yesterday anymore… I forgot them in my jacket, that’s why I have them with me.”

“I’m sure that’s the reason,” Jesy laughed. “Alright, I’m going to go over there and look for something for Jake and you’ll look through the clothing shops and see if you find her. Who knows, maybe she really is here? And this time there won’t be a counter between you two.” And with that she was already off, leaving Jade standing alone in the middle of the hall.

Nervously she made her way over to one of the shops and went inside (not before she had put the gloves back where she’d got them), keeping her head high. She knew it was stupid to expect the blonde anywhere here because how high were the chances? She’d never really been good at maths and she had no idea where to start calculating probabilities.

After she had walked through three shops, she felt too unmotivated to keep looking, so she went into the coffee shop Fred always walked into to buy her a caramel frappuccino to get herself one this time. The queue was horribly long and she was sort of pissed by the time she received it but not really because of the queue; it was more the fact that she missed the blonde, although she felt like she had no right to because she didn’t even know her.

With her frappuccino in her hand – she was wearing one of the white gloves – she went outside to get some fresh air. It was snowing now for the first time in the last five days and the old snow had almost vanished already – relief flooded Jade because Christmas was inching closer and she really, _really_ wanted snow this year. Jade noticed that below the soft new snow was ice and she was careful not to slip when she walked over to a bench. With a wipe of her hand she got rid of the snow and sat down, almost regretting it – it was a metal bench and it had absorbed the cold awfully well. She was sure if she spent too much time here, her arse would freeze and probably fall off. She looked down at the cool drink in her hands (now both covered in white gloves) and thought about how this Christmas would be.

She would really have to talk about it with Jesy because what if Jake wanted to celebrate it with her and his family and Jade would be alone? She was sure Jake had nothing against her but he probably didn’t even wonder what she’d do for Christmas. And she’d understand if he wanted to bring his girlfriend home with his family… She’d do it too, if it was her.

People were walking past her and she wondered that if her cup was empty and she’d hold it a bit more in front of her these people would think she was homeless.

She decided it was time to go back to Jesy and see if she’d found something for her boyfriend already and maybe help her a bit with the whole thing – she knew that the chances of running into the blonde here would almost be zero, but at least she could say now she tried.

This time she forgot that there was ice under the thin layer of snow on the sidewalk and before she could realise what had happened, her foot broke away and she slipped. She was waiting for her behind to connect with the icy cold floor but somehow she had ended up in someone’s arms and was pretty grateful there were so many people in front of the mall.

“Oh, I’m sorry, thanks for –” Jade’s words got caught in her throat when she saw that the arms that were holding her belonged to no other than the blonde girl she had a horribly stupid crush on.

Fuck.

She hurried to get up properly and straightened her clothes, blushing deeply. She was sure she looked horrible and… seriously? Why did she have to run into her like _this_? This was probably the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to her.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” The blonde asked worriedly and stooped down a bit to be able to look up at Jade’s face, who let her head hang low. “Did you hurt yourself?”

Jade quickly shook her head and held onto her fingers behind her back awkwardly. She felt the material of the gloves and blushed even deeper, quickly taking them off and presenting them to the blonde. “Here, uh, you forgot these yesterdays. I thought I’d keep them for now because you didn’t come back for them.”

The blonde looked down at the gloves and a small smile was playing around her lips. “That’s really sweet of you, thanks. I would’ve come back today anyway.”

“Oh, how lucky me and my friend came here to do some Christmas shopping,” Jade replied awkwardly. “We’re closed today and tomorrow because it’s been so busy lately and Fred – my boss – thought it’d be good for the two of us if we took a break.”

“Oh…” The blonde muttered and her face dropped a bit. “Is it that stressful? I’m really sorry for you.”

“It’s not that bad,” Jade smiled and puffed out some cold air. “And it has its perks.” She tried not to blush. Was this considered flirting? If it was, she was really bad at it.

“Does that mean I won’t get to see you tomorrow?” The blonde asked sadly and Jade looked up in surprise. If it was possible, her cheeks turned an even darker shade.

“What? Uh… I. What?”

“Ha ha, never mind,” the blonde said with rosy cheeks. She looked away awkwardly and Jade wanted to slap herself across the face for her stupid reply. She should have said something cheeky or flirty but instead she… sort of played dumb. Well, she didn’t really play, she just kind of was dumb. “I guess I’ll see you in two days then? Hopefully?”

Butterflies caused Jade’s stomach to turn over and over again and she couldn’t help but put a hand on it in the hopes of calming it down. “Sure, I mean. We could, uh, I don’t know. Do you have to go already?”

The blonde looked at her for a few seconds, then she grinned widely and shook her head. “No, I’ve got about half an hour left before I have to be back at the orphanage. I guess we’ll have to wait with the wreaths some more.”

“If you don’t mind me asking… what do you need all of them for?” She and the blonde slowly made their way to the entrance of the mall. They stood really close to each other and Jade felt the back of their hands brushing more than once – and to be perfectly frank, it drove her insane. She really just wanted to hold her hand and maybe even kiss her. That would be really nice.

The blonde giggled and Jade couldn’t help but smile at the sound. “I thought that you’d ask eventually. Or, at least I hoped it’d intrigue you enough to wonder about it.” She blushed a bit causing Jade’s stomach to turn once more. “First of, we want to hang them in the orphanage. You know, we can’t afford presents for all of them with the money we get from the state even though all of us pretty much invest our personal money as well, so we’re buying wreaths for every room of the house. And we can’t have a Christmas tree either, so the kids thought it’d be funny to buy some wreaths and put them all together to make it look like one. So, we kind of need a lot, really.”

“That’s a really sweet thing of you to do,” Jade smiled and nodded her head, looking at the ground so the other girl couldn’t see how red her face was by now. With a little bit of luck she’d blame it on the cold, although they were almost inside now. Not paying attention, Jade slipped again and the blonde reacted almost instantly, holding onto her arms and pulling her up.

“You need to stop that,” the blonde whispered under her breath. “You’re giving me a heart attack every time. I intend to live a little bit longer.” With an awkward chuckle she released Jade again and looked away, giving Jade time to collect her thoughts and block out the feeling she had when they touched each other again. Her fingers were freezing but she didn’t want to put them in her pockets because their fingers kept brushing and it literally gave her life.

“Sorry,” Jade murmured, “I’m really clumsy.”

“Good to know.”

Jade looked at her and raised her brows. “Why’s that?”

The blonde shrugged without looking at her and giggled once more. “Come on, let’s go inside, or we’ll freeze and you’ll probably fall again.” She laughed and they walked inside, both breathing out in relief when the warm air hit them. The blonde took off her gloves almost instantly and put them into her pockets. “By the way, I never got around to ask you – what’s your name?”

“I’m Jade,” she murmured. “What about you?”

“I’m Perrie.”

Perrie. Perrie. Perrie. The name ran through the girl’s mind over and over again, repeating itself in her voice. “That’s a really nice name, but also very rare, especially for girls. How’d your parents come up with it?” She felt stupid for asking such mundane questions but then again she was seriously curious.

“I was named after Steve Perry, the singer. My parents both love music and so do I.”

“So you’re a musician as well?”

“I don’t think I could be considered as such – I just sing sometimes for the kids but that’s it.” They walked through the mall until they arrived at the coffee shop and Perrie tugged on Jade’s hand to pull her into the shop. “I need some hot chocolate to warm myself up. What do you drink?”

“Hm… I think I’d like some Earl Grey,” she murmured looking at the menu on the wall behind the busy baristas. They were most likely even more busy than her and Fred since most people would first like something warm to drink when they came inside from the cold.

“Alright, sit down and I’ll be right with you,” Perrie smiled and led her over to one of the tables.

“Oh, thanks. Here’s the money for the –” But before Jade could hand it to the blonde, she was already standing in line. Jade’s heart beat was extremely (and most likely unhealthily) fast but she couldn’t bring herself to care – she finally knew her name and for whatever reason they sat here together in a coffee shop and drank together? Whoever was in charge of her destiny, Jade was more than thankful for it.

It didn’t take long for Perrie to be back with Jade and for a while they just sat there and looked at each other without saying anything. It wasn’t uncomfortable, like Jade would have expected, but rather nice. Just enjoying each other’s company. It felt weird to sit here with the blonde – Perrie, what a beautiful name – without any boundaries and without having to worry about her boss coming back. She knew their time was limited for today, but this was more than she would have expected.

“How old are you? You asked for mine and now I’m curious how old you are.”

“Twenty-one as well,” Jade replied sheepishly. “But I’m turning a year older in a few weeks.”

“Oh my God, really? When?”

Perrie’s seemingly honest excitement for her made her giggle and blush – if she ever managed to come down from this high, she would have to slap herself across the face for this ridiculous behaviour (but right now, she really didn’t care). “On the twenty-sixth of December.”

“That’s so soon! What do you think about having a birthday so close to Christmas?”

Jade shrugged her shoulders, “I never really complained that much. I guess it’s true that people whose birthday is in summer, like June or something get more because their parents have six months to save money for those days but then again are you the shining star at the Christmas parties and those old relatives, who always forget your birthday, all come together and I get like three hundred pounds. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration,” she giggled and hid behind her hand.

“Aw, you’re so cute,” Perrie chuckled and took a sip of her hot chocolate.

“You’re so sweet,” Jade murmured. “You didn’t have to buy me my drink, you know? How much do I owe you exactly?”

“Nothing,” Perrie answered with a vivid shake of her head. “I wanted to go on a drink with you for a while now, so the fact that you’re here is worth the money one hundred per cent.” She grinned and again Jade’s stomach did a turn.

“That’s probably the sweetest thing someone’s ever said to me on a date –” Jade’s eyes widened and she took a big gulp of her tea. “Uh. I mean. You know? Um.”

Perrie giggled like a little girl and looked at Jade with a happy expression. “I hope you’ll let me say more things like that to you on a second one.” She took a quick glance at the watch on her wrist and drank up the rest of her hot chocolate. “It’s really sad but the half hour is up already and I really have to get back to the orphanage now. It was really nice talking to you like this for once without a counter between us.”

Jade blushed and nodded her head. “Yeah, it was really nice. And, uh. I’d like for you to say more nice things to me on a second date… hopefully a longer one.” She couldn’t believe she had really managed to say these words but she was glad she did because the blush on Perrie’s cheeks was worth the nervous feeling.

“Yeah, I’d like that. See you soon… Jade.” She waved her hand and kept looking at the girl while she walked before she turned her attention forward so she wouldn’t run into someone – something Jade surely would have forgotten, were she in her shoes.

Giddily she got up from her seat and got out her phone to see she had three missed calls from Jesy and two texts (“where are u? pls call me bck” and “did u find her?? omfg call me pls”) and Jade couldn’t believe she missed those because her phone was on vibration. She quickly dialled Jesy’s number, “Hey, where are you?”

“I’m right where I left you. Where are _you_? Did you seriously find her?”

“Kind of, oh my God, we kind of had a first date? And we didn’t talk much but I accidentally called it a date and she said she’d like to go on a second, so I think it counts? And it was really nice, oh my God. What day is it today? We met really awkwardly, but she was so sweet all the time. And her name is Perrie, isn’t that a lovely name? She is so adorable.”

“Jade, Jade, please, calm down,” Jesy laughed on the other side of the line. “Where are you? You can tell me everything at home where you can look at me and I can pinch you when your voice is too high.”

“You’re mean,” Jade muttered but couldn’t fight off the grin from her face – she was just too happy about everything right now. “But I’m with you in a second, already on my way.” She disconnected when she saw Jesy standing in the middle of the hallway and walked over to her. When she was a few feet away from her, she literally jumped at her and threw her arms around her.

“Come on, let’s get home and you can tell me everything.”


	5. Chapter 5

When Fred went to get their coffee two days later after the first crowd had slowly disappeared, Jade looked around to finally see Perrie; she couldn’t fall asleep the day after their date and the day after (yesterday), she had been all mope-y because she missed her. She still felt stupid admitting it, especially because Jesy had teased her about it, but she simply couldn’t help it.

“Hey, Jade,” Perrie smiled at her from behind her. She loved hearing the sound of her name from the blonde’s mouth.

“You always creep up behind me.”

“What’s the fun in not doing so?” Perrie asked with a grin and took off her gloves. “How are you today?”

“I’m very good, especially now. What about you?” Both of them blushed at Jade’s words, but neither of them really reacted to it.

“To be perfectly frank, a little tired. I couldn’t sleep the past two nights very well…” She really did look a bit tired but at the same time so full of life that it seemed as if she didn’t even mind.

“Same here,” Jade admitted, hoping that Perrie hadn’t been able to fall asleep for the same reasons as she.

“I, uh, wanted to ask you if you wanted to go on that second date with me, maybe? I mean… I don’t know if you want to, but that’s why I’m asking, yeah? You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it’s just because you said you’d like to go on a second date… so.”

“I’d love to,” Jade said quickly because she knew how embarrassing it could be if you kept blabbing about nothing for ages and nobody stopped you. “Do you want me to give you my phone number?”

Perrie’s deeply coloured cheeks stood out on her pale skin when she nodded her head and fished out an android smartphone from her pants’ right pocket. “Here you go, just type it in and I’ll text you. So you’ll have my number, too.” Jade nodded and quickly wrote in her number with a bit of shaky hands. She couldn’t believe her own behaviour – she was behaving like a school girl and just a couple of days ago she was mocking Jesy for it. “There you go,” Jade smiled and handed her back her phone.

“Thanks. Uh. Can I buy two wreaths, too? I don’t want to keep everyone from being able to talk to you?” She nodded her head behind Jade, where an older couple was waiting to be served.

“Would you wait one second?” She asked Perrie. “I’ll be right back with you.” She quickly gave the older couple what they wanted – one of the prepared wreaths – before she turned her attention back to the blonde. “Sorry for making you wait.”

The blonde grinned cheekily and leaned on the counter, “I’d wait forever for you.”

Blushing Jade turned her attention to the wreaths and wrapped one of the prettier ones for the girl. “I suppose you want one made from me again?”

“As always,” Perrie grinned and watched Jade carefully, causing the girl to blush deeply.

 _God, she’s driving me insane_ , Jade thought to herself and shook her head. She wondered what she’d now put on the wreath now that she knew Perrie a bit better – only to realise she really didn’t know anymore about her than yesterday. Frowning she looked at it and sighed. “I don’t know what you want.”

“You,” she heard Perrie whisper and shook her head. The blonde cleared her throat and replied properly, “You choose, that’s the deal.”

Jade looked at her with a grin and giggled before nodding. “I know, it’s just not as easy as you think. I want to make you happy and give you something you really like.”

Perrie looked at her adorably with a sigh, “God, Jade, you’ve made me happy ever since we met. I liked all the wreaths you made, just.” She closed her mouth and swallowed, seemingly not wanting to talk anymore about this whole thing. Jade sighed and nodded, not wanting to push the younger girl.

“Alright, alright… Okay.” She went for the classic style once more but instead of red, she used pink this time and looked at it disapprovingly. “I know I’d put it up in our apartment because Jesy – my roommate – would buy a thing like this and she always buys them and I never really pay attention to it, if that counts too?”

Perrie laughed and nodded her head, “It does. I love everything you do.”

Jade blushed as she wrapped the wreath for the blonde and handed it to her. “I won’t accept no more tips from you, you’ve paid my tea and you’ve given me way too much money for these shitty wreaths already.”

“I don’t think they are shitty,” Perrie replied with a pout and Jade wanted to kiss it off her face. “And the tea had nothing to do with this – it was an invitation and it was my pleasure.”

“Alright,” Jade hushed. “But I’ll pay on our next date.”

Perrie looked at her with a shake of her head. “Fine,” she sighed. Then she looked at the wreaths in her arms and handed Jade the money. Before the older girl could realise what was happening, she felt a pair of lips pressed against her right cheek and then they were gone already and Perrie was dancing away from the stall.

“God damnit, Perrie, you will be the death of me.”

…

_Perrie: Hey, are you off work yet?_

_Jade: Yeh, just got home about half an hour ago. I’m waiting for dinner to be ready._

_Perrie: Oh, I hope I’m not disturbing you?_

_Jade: Never in a million years. What’s up?_

_Perrie: Uh, so about the second date… Would you like to go on it with me? Tomorrow?_

_Jade: I’d love to!!! I already know where to go._

_Perrie: That’s so good to hear! Where do you wanna go?_

_Jade: Well, you said you’d like to have someone you could go ice skating with… So, I’m offering._

_Perrie: Offer totally accepted! You just know how to make a girl happy ;) When and where?_

_Jade: How about… at six right at the Tower of London ice skating rink? I think it’s a beautiful place …_

_Perrie: I can’t wait… see you tomorrow ^^_

_Jade: Me neither :D nanite_

_Perrie: Nanite?_

_Jade: It means good night C:_

_Perrie: Ohhh.. Good night to you too! I hope you sleep well!_

_Jade: Hehe… you too! And sweet dreams!_

They wished each other a good night and sweet dreams for about twenty more minutes until Perrie’s battery died and Jade sighed, not being able to sleep once again.

…

When Perrie turned up at the stall the next day, Fred was present, which was the first time at all that they had been in the same place. “Good morning,” the blonde greeted the two of them and took off her white gloves with a smile. Her cheeks and nose were once again red from the cold outside, but she looked as vibrant as never before.

“Hey, Perrie,” Jade smiled before her expression became sheepish quite quickly as she looked back at Fred, who just grinned at the two of them.

“Good morning, ma’am, may I help you?” He asked the blonde.

Perrie giggled and pushed some of her hair out of her face, “It is nothing personal, sir, but would you mind if this girl served me? I grew accustomed to her.”

“Not in the slightest,” the American laughed and nodded his head. “I’m going to get us something to drink. The usual, Jade?” The girl nodded her head and waited for the male to walk out of the stall and around the corner to the coffee shop.

“He buys you coffee?” Perrie asked with a frown and Jade couldn’t help but find it utterly adorable. The blonde looked somehow irritated and even though jealousy was most likely not the reason, Jade couldn’t help but feel the butterflies doing somersaults in her stomach.

“Don’t worry,” Jade calmed her down and put a hand on her arm. The blonde leaned into the touch almost right away and her expression softened immediately. “He’s buying them, yes, but I’m paying them. And I think he’s just going every day because he knows you’ll show up and he doesn’t want to disturb us.”

“So I’ve made myself a name here already?” Perrie giggled and tugged on her hair. For some reason it didn’t really follow her rules today.

“Well, for the majority of the time neither of us knew your name… and I’m still the only one who does.” Jade giggled and she hated herself for doing that all the time around Perrie – but she just couldn’t help it. She felt so young and overly excited around her.

“So I’m sort of your secret?” Perrie asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk playing around your lips.

“Oh, no,” Jade laughed shyly. “I told my roommate about us… and she said she’d love to meet you.”

“What did you tell her… about us?” Perrie wondered aloud.

Jade looked at her fingers on the counters and felt her cheeks becoming warm, “well, uh, that we went on a date and that we’re going to go on another soon. Yeah.” She coughed into her fist and smiled at the blonde, not wanting to go into detail how she had freaked out on the day after their first date and the day after that and how utterly embarrassing she was all the time because of Perrie.

“I’m sure your roommate is nice. You seemingly have fantastic taste,” she winked and put her hand on the counter dangerously close to Jade’s. The older girl burned with desire to touch her hand but before she could do so she heard someone clear their throat behind her.

Once again they were interrupted by another customer and with an apologetic smile towards Perrie Jade quickly turned her attention to the other person. It didn’t take long for her to live up to the customer’s wish and she was back with Perrie again. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. Tonight I’ll have you all to myself.”

Jade giggled and was already wrapping another wreath for the blonde, and then proceeded to make an individualised one. This time she went for complementary colours, so next to every red ornament she put a green one and next to each yellow star a blue bow before she showed it to Perrie.

“That was quicker than yesterday,” the blonde replied with a smile. “Could you be you’re gaining some self confidence in regards of your beautiful work?”

Jade shrugged. “Is it alright this way?”

“Perfect as always,” Perrie smiled and nodded her head. “I’ll take whatever I can get from you.”

Jade blushed and wrapped this one up too before she handed it to the younger girl. “See you tonight.”

“Can’t wait,” the blonde smiled and pressed her lips to Jade’s cheek again before she waltzed away. It felt like her body was on fire.

…

“You think this looks alright?” Jade asked nervously and tugged on her jumper. She was wearing black skinny jeans and a green oversized jumper along with a pair of brown boots. As a jacket she’d wear her parka and the skating shoes were already lying next to the door so she wouldn’t forget about them.

Jesy looked up from her sheet and focused on Jade before nodding her head in encouragement. “Perfect. She’ll love it.” She hopped off the stool and walked over to where Jade stood to hug her tightly. “I’m sure it’s gonna be alright. If you don’t come home, please text me or I’ll annoy Jake all night with how worried I am about you.”

Jade looked at the floor with deeply red cheeks, “I don’t think we’re ready for that…  But yes, I’ll let you know for the unlikely case of that happening tonight.”

“Good girl,” Jesy grinned and kissed Jade’s left cheek loudly. “Enjoy yourself, but not too much! Although… don’t do anything I wouldn’t do either.”

“That means no boundaries,” Jade mocked her friend. “See you later! I gotta go now if I wanna be there in time.”

She quickly slipped into her parka, and grabbed her wallet and her ice skating shoes. Running down the stairs she stumbled a few times without actually falling (thank God, or she would have to say no to the date and Perrie would probably think it’d be an excuse and why on earth would she think that because who on earth would _not_ want to go on a date with her?) and somehow made it safely to the car – she was seriously one of the most clumsy people on earth.

It was three minutes before six when Jade arrived at the rink only to see Perrie already waiting for her. With a blush on her cheeks she walked over to where the blonde was waiting for her, looking at her phone so she didn’t see when Jade walked closer to where she stood. Sneaking around her, she put her hands on the blonde’s eyes. She leaned in closer and whispered really close to Perrie’s neck, “guess who?” She couldn’t but grin widely when the blonde’s skin reacted almost immediately by creating goose bumps and Jade could practically see the shiver run down her spine.

“Jade,” Perrie whispered and the older female gasped at the sound of her name. Never had she thought she’d ever feel so turned on by her name being spoken. She quickly cleared her throat and dropped her hands, nodding as the blonde turned around to face her with an opened mouth and glazed eyes.

“Um,” Jade said and watched Perrie blink vividly before she cleared her throat as well and grinned at the older girl. Although Jade was the older one, she was a good bit smaller than Perrie, who wasn’t exactly tall either, but it made her somehow smile. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Uh, shall we go?” Jade asked and watched as Perrie nodded her head. The blonde blushed deeply before she looked at the floor and almost unnoticeable slipped her hands into Jade’s – almost. Jade’s body jolted invisibly at the feeling and once again her whole body felt like it was on fire.

Jade quickly paid their tickets while Perrie complained (“that’s way more than the coffee! I can’t accept that, you have to let me pay my own ticket!”) and then Jade grinned, “like you said. You being here with me makes up for all the money and is one hundred per cent worth it.” She blushed, still not able to believe Perrie had really said that to her.

“You’re too much to handle,” Perrie sighed and sat down on the bench to take off her shoes.

“Oh,” Jade murmured and pouted.

“That was meant in the good way, I’m sorry,” Perrie replied blushingly and shook her head. “Like… you’re too sweet and too beautiful and too amazing, you know?”

Jade’s head felt like it was spinning. “I think you’re addressing the wrong person,” she giggled and sat down next to Perrie on the bench. “Do you, uh, need help with your shoes?” The blonde asked. Not waiting for a reply from Jade she went on her knees and unlaced Jade’s boots quickly, carefully pulling them off her feet. She looked the older girl in the eyes while doing so and Jade’s breath hitched, getting caught in her throat.

Perrie was sweet and gentle and it was such a mundane situation, but it made Jade unbelievably aroused – she was glad it was cold out here because she really needed some cool air right now. She slipped out of her parka quickly and when Perrie got up and paid attention to her own shoes, she quickly fanned herself with her hand to calm down a bit. It was ridiculous, really.

“Let’s go?” Perrie asked and held out her hand for Jade to take.

The brunette gladly accepted the hand and let her help her up. “I’m really clumsy so if you want to do twirls and stuff, you’re going to have to abandon me,” she admitted. “Sorry, I should have thought of that… It’s just that you said you wanted to go ice skating and I wanted to make you happy.”

“I would have been happy if you’d invited me for a hot dog at a dumpster,” Perrie giggled, not letting go of Jade’s hand. “And you can’t imagine how happy it makes me that you remembered that… and don’t worry, I’m not going to leave your side. I’ll catch you if you fall.”

Jade thought that maybe Perrie had already done that in a way – instead of crushing her hopes when Jade said things without thinking about them, like when she’d accidentally called their coffee a date (which she was really glad now she did), Perrie had always encouraged her and made her feel good and safe. Maybe she had been falling all along and Perrie had kept catching her.

Right there she felt her foot give away and she felt her weight shift forward but before she could fall, Perrie’s arms were holding her tightly and making sure she’d not land on all fours. “Thanks,” Jade murmured sheepishly. “I’d hoped it’d take a bit longer for me to fall on my face.”

“But you didn’t fall on your face,” Perrie replied with a warm smile and Jade once again just wanted to kiss her – she wondered if Perrie would let her.

“Only because of you.”

“I said I’d catch you if you fall and I’m going to keep my promise,” she grinned and tucked her blonde hair behind her ear. “Can’t risk anything happening to that beautiful face of yours.”

“Oh, stop it, you,” Jade blushed.

“You love it, really.”

Poking out her tongue at Perrie she pouted and wanted to cross her arms when she realised that the blonde was already holding her hand again. “Alright. Can you teach me how to move my feet on the ice without falling?”

Perrie nodded her head before she skated easily forward until she stood face to face with the older girl. She held onto both of her hands and smiled. “The mistake most people make is that they want to walk,” the blonde murmured and looked at Jade’s feet. “See, you’re trying to take steps. You need to glide. Look at my feet. I’m not lifting them from the ice and yet I’m moving, backwards even.”

“You’re, like, a pro skater, though.”

“Oh, please,” Perrie laughed and shook her head. “Thanks, though.” Her cheeks were a sweet shade of rosy again and Jade couldn’t help but grin proudly at the fact that she had caused this colour. “Okay, just. Put your weight back so if you fall you’re landing on your butt and not on your face, because I’m pretty sure that hurts more. Now, just stay on the ice and let me guide you.” She grinned cheekily and again Jade felt her cheeks heating up badly. “There’s nothing wrong with being inexperienced,” Perrie murmured.

“I’m not – I’m not inexperienced,” Jade huffed out, feeling deeply embarrassed. She wasn’t sure if Perrie was talking about ice skating anymore. “I just haven’t done it in a while and…”

“And…?”

“Are we still talking about ice skating?” Jade blurted out without looking at Perrie. Her eyes were fixated on her own feet, careful not to stumble. It was a miracle to her how Perrie could skate backwards so easily without at least bumping into someone.

Perrie swallowed and pursed her lips, “well, I thought we were… but, if you, uh, want to talk about something else?”

“As I said… I’m not inexperienced,” Jade huffed out and still didn’t look at Perrie. She could tell the blonde was staring at her intently. “It’s just been a while, and, uh, the last person that counts was a guy, so. Yeah, there’s that.”

“Oh,” Perrie replied and Jade could still feel her staring at her. “If you wondered about that, I don’t mind that. And I’m also not here with you because I want you to, uh, make me feel good once and then leave you. I really like being near you…”

“Good, because I like being near you too,” Jade whispered sheepishly and pushed her hair out of her face. She couldn’t lift her eyes from her feet, afraid she’d fall but she did notice Perrie constantly looking at her and it kept her cheeks and entire body warm as they slowly skated along the ice and chatted a bit.

Jade fount out that Perrie was one out of three adults in the orphanage – another female named Leigh-Anne, whom she’d been friends with since they were thirteen, and a male named Zayn –, that she had a cat named Prada and all the adults were big dog fans so there were a few of them as well. Perrie didn’t have a sense of smell (which made Jade pout at first because she had used one of her expensive perfumes before she left the house), and her favourite thing to do was eat. Funnily enough she was from South Shields, just like Jade herself, and that they had lived near each other all their life. “I guess the two of us were bound to end up meeting each other eventually,” Perrie had laughed shyly and once more Jade felt like kissing her, but once more she didn’t do it at the end of the day. Perrie had also had pink and purple hair once, and that she loved singing even more than she’d let on a couple of days ago. She also had planned to audition for The X Factor in 2011, but then she forgot to get up and they were too late – Jade then told her that in 2008 and 2010 she’d tried for the show as well and then had wanted to come back in 2011 as well but didn’t want to embarrass herself a third time, so she moved to London as well and Perrie wondered aloud if in an alternate universe the two of them would have been on the show together. And the funniest thing was probably when Perrie showed her that she could do a goat impression and one of the kids around her started laughing and begged her to do it again (for about six times, until the mother finally told the kid to stop annoying ‘the adults’).

The time was flying and by the time they had to leave the rink, Jade almost – almost – managed to move a few inches on her own, but she pretended she was incapable of doing so because she enjoyed the feeling of Perrie’s hands on her too much.

“Oh, I don’t want to go yet,” Perrie pouted. “I had so much fun with you.”

Jade giggled and nodded her head. “I really enjoyed my time with you… Where’s your car? I’ll go with you.”

Perrie shook her head and tucked her hair behind her ear again. “Oh, I walked. We only have one car at the orphanage and it’s supposed to be only used for emergencies, like when one of the kids would hurt themselves and we’d have to get to the hospital… stuff like that.”

Jade sighed deeply (not really, just in her head) because although Perrie could probably have a really good job where she’d make loads of money, she had decided to work for these kids, who had no-one and she supported them with all she had. “Oh, then come with me. I, um, wanted to ask you anyway… if you wanted to come to my place with me and maybe have a cuppa?”

Perrie smiled widely and nodded, “I’d love to. Lead the way.”

They walked over to Jade’s car and got inside, where Jade turned on the heating right away because otherwise the two of them would probably freeze to death. “Sorry that it’s so cold,” Jade apologised as she put her shoes and purse on the backseat. “I hope it’ll get warmer soon.” She smiled at Perrie only to find the blonde staring at her intently with parted lips and Jade wondered again if the blonde let her kiss her if she just leaned in.

Before she could try, someone knocked on the window and both of them blinked in confusion before Jade noticed the man next to the car, looking quite a bit angry with the two of them. “We would really like to go home and we can’t do so until your car is still on our parking lot!”

“Sorry!” Jade and Perrie apologised at the same time and quickly the older girl drove the car out of the parking place and onto the street. It was really becoming warmer on the way, since it was a longer drive than to the bar to which Jade and Jesy had gone to a couple of days ago with the rest of the dancing group.

They got out in front of the apartment and hurried up the stairs, hoping to find warmth in the room. “Hello?” Jade called out, almost hoping it was empty but then she heard Jesy’s reply “in the living room” and so she sighed as she got out of her shoes and her parka.

She helped Perrie out of her jacket and hung it on the door before the two of them walked into the kitchen, where a small light was on above the stove. “Be right back,” she told Perrie, “you can get yourself comfortable though, be my guest.” She smiled and then hurried into the living room, where Jake and Jesy were once again cuddled against each other and Jesy played with her eyebrows when she saw Jade.

“I didn’t expect you to be home so soon.”

“I’m not alone,” Jade told her sheepishly and red cheeks. “And I told you – you know. Just wanted to let you know, please, please, don’t embarrass me in front of her.”

“Don’t worry. If she’s gone ice skating with you and still came here with you, she must really like you,” she promised. “You’re a nightmare when you’re ice skating.” She threw off the blanket she was using and patted Jake’s thigh. “Let’s go into my room, and give the two of them some privacy, yeh?” The male nodded with a smile and followed his girlfriend into her room, leaving the living room a mess.

Shaking her head, Jade grabbed the popcorn bowl and the empty chocolate wrappings before she folded the blankets (with one free hand, no idea how she managed to do that) and put them on the floor in front of the sofa. She then walked back into the kitchen, where Perrie was sitting quietly. “Sorry, my roommate and her boyfriend left the living room a mess and I don’t want you to think we’re _that_ messy… well, I’m not, they kind of are.” She laughed awkwardly and put the bowl in the sink and the wrappings into the trash. “Now, what would you like to drink? Coffee, tea, something with alcohol?”

“Oh, no, alcohol for me,” Perrie giggled. “I get embarrassing real quick and you wouldn’t want me in your flat anymore after that. If you’ve got some green tea, that’d be splendid.”

“Green tea it is,” Jade smiled and went to prepare two cups of green tea. They picked up their meaningless conversation from earlier, about everything and nothing, and Jade didn’t even mind that they had no proper topic to talk about because she simply loved hearing the blonde’s voice.

They eventually moved their conversation into the living room and although they first sat across from each other at different ends of the sofa, Jade somehow found herself with her head on Perrie’s shoulder at two in the morning, watching a crappy movie on the telly. They had muted the TV and made their own dialogue and one time Perrie had taken a sip from her fourth cup of tea while Jade had voiced an old man with a Russian accent and caused the blonde to almost spit it out. They tried to be quiet because they thought Jake and Jesy must be asleep by now but sometimes it was just really hard to keep quiet when Jade was enjoying herself so thoroughly with Perrie.

“Oh God, look at the time,” Perrie sighed with a glance to the watch.

“When do you have to start taking care of the kids tomorrow?” Jade asked with a yawn. She was extremely tired but she had promised Perrie to drive her back to the orphanage, because now they were even further away and she couldn’t risk anything happening to the blonde in the dark streets of London at night.

“Well, practically the moment I wake up,” Perrie murmured, which caused Jade to pout, “but my shift starts at eleven, really…”

Jade sat up and looked at the blonde, her heart thumping loudly. She didn’t know if she should risk asking the question but Perrie looked at her with big and expectant eyes that she gathered all her bravery and just blurted out, “wouldyouliketosleepheretonight?”

Perrie giggled and tilted her head to the side with a smug grin, “what did you say?”

Jade blushed deeply and looked at her fingers, “I asked… would you like to sleep here tonight?” She looked up at the blonde with hopeful eyes and continued, “I mean, my shift starts at ten, but you could come with me and maybe buy the daily wreaths and maybe Fred will let me use the coffee break to drive you to the orphanage?”

Perrie smiled and yawned, finally letting on that she was probably just as tired as Jade, “yeah, I think I’d like that very much. I guess I’ll sleep here on the sofa?”

“Are you insane?” Jade scoffed. “What kind of host would I be if I let my guest sleep on the sofa? No, no, ma’am, you’ll sleep in the bed. I’ll take the sofa. I’ve slept on it before.”

Perrie pursed her lips and Jade felt like kissing her again. She almost did it, but then Perrie murmured, “But, uh, maybe, you know… we could share the bed as well? That way nobody would have to sleep on the sofa. And, like, we’re both really too tired for anything, I guess, so… I guess it’d be nice to have someone next to you when you wake up?”

Perrie spoke about exactly what Jade wanted from all of this – someone who would wake up next to her. Hopefully more than once, and maybe sometimes even with… something they were too tired for the night before and maybe even when they woke up. She wanted to share her bed with someone, and maybe even her closet and it didn’t count when she stole some clothes from Jesy and ‘accidentally’ put them into her closet.

“Yeah,” Jade breathed out, “I’d like that.”

She turned off the TV and felt Perrie grab her hand and it felt even better now that neither of them were wearing gloves anymore. Jade was glad that it was dark in the flat now because for once Perrie wouldn’t be able to see her embarrassing blush. “I have sweats and shirts for you,” Jade said once they were in her room. She flicked on the lights and went over to her closet to pick out some clothes. They seemed to be about the same size so Jade didn’t really think about that when she picked out stuff for the two of them to wear while sleeping.

“I’ll take whatever I get from you,” Perrie murmured sleepily and grabbed one of the shirts and sweats from Jade’s grasp. The brunette was about to leave the room to get changed on the toilet, when she saw Perrie lifting up her shirt without any second thoughts and slipping into Jade’s. Blinking her eyes, Jade quickly turned around and left the room, feeling like she was doing something forbidden.

It was a good sign Perrie wasn’t too shy about her body, wasn’t it? After all, she was really attractive and it’d mean she’d be ready to show everything to Jade soon, which she sort of wanted, but at the same time the thought scared her. She’d had sex multiple times, with both boys and girls, but this seemed like such a big deal to her because she really didn’t want to disappoint Perrie.

In the bathroom she looked at herself in the mirror and then decided it was too late to worry about her looks now because she’d sleep soon anyway, and then nothing would matter anymore, except for the fact that she wouldn’t cuddle an inanimate object tonight. At least she hoped it’d be that way.

Would Perrie like to be the big spoon? Or the small one? Would they even be spooning? On what side of the bed did the blonde like to sleep? What if Jade suddenly started snoring and Perrie would flee in the middle of the night?

Okay. Enough of that. It’d be fine.

Taking one last deep breath, Jade walked back into her bed room with her clothes balled up in her hands. Perrie sat on the edge of the bed with a smile and waited for Jade to turn off the lights before she lay down and scooted to the wall to make space for Jade. It was a bed for two people, so they’d have enough space if Perrie wanted any, but as soon as Jade was lying, she felt Perrie move closer again and put her arm around Jade.

“Is this okay?” She asked carefully and quietly, probably hearing Jade’s quick heart beat.

Jade nodded her head and closed her eyes when she suddenly felt Perrie’s lips pressed to her cheek again, causing her stomach to do somersaults again. “Sleep well, Jade.”

“You too, Perrie,” Jade whispered quietly and smiled, feeling herself relax into Perrie’s touch almost instantly after that kiss. Her heart beat slowed down and she wondered if Perrie could hear it, even though Jade’s back was facing the blonde.

If she could fall asleep like this for the rest of her life, she wouldn’t ask for anything else.


	6. Chapter 6

“I can’t remember the flat being this full in ages,” Jesy laughed the next morning when the four of them sat down to have breakfast together. “Does anyone else need anymore milk? If not, I’m gonna put it back into the fridge or it’s gonna go to waste.”

“No, thanks,” three voices replied and Jade and Perrie looked at each other with a smile.

“Ugh, you two are sickenly sweet, I can’t even make fun of you properly,” Jesy muttered under her breath towards Jade. The brunette and blonde both blushed deeply, which caused the oldest female in the room to laugh. “Oh, I was wrong. It seems very easy.”

“C’mon now,” Jake laughed and pressed a kiss to her lips, which seemed to literally take her breath away. “We gotta go now or we’re gonna be late.”

“Where are you going?” Jade asked and felt Perrie’s knee bump into her. She suppressed the grin from her face and looked at the blonde who didn’t react to the touch at all.

Jesy put her and Jake’s bowl into the sink and washed her hands quickly before she replied, “we’re going ice skating today. It seemed to me that it’s a very romantic place with you two ending up here and stuff instead of sleeping in separate beds.” She ducked when the empty cereal carton box flew into her direction.

“Alright, alright, I’m gone already. Have fun at work, and see you later today, I suppose?” She ended the sentence more like a question than a statement and pressed a kiss to Jade’s left cheek before she followed Jake into her bedroom where the two of them were probably getting dressed.

“Wait a second, you can be late for ice skating?” Jade said after a couple of seconds and shook her head. “I think he just wanted to have Jesy on his own again.” Shaking her head she sighed and looked at the watch above their heads. “We’ve got about half an hour left before I need to be at the mall and I need to shower quickly. Do you want to shower here too or would you prefer to do it in the orphanage?”

Perrie shrugged and got up to put her bowl in the sink as well. “If you don’t mind I’d like to shower at home, but take your time. I’ll be in your room and get my stuff.”

Jade nodded her head, confused at Perrie’s distant reply. “Everything alright?”

The blonde nodded her head and smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes and looked a bit forced – Jade wondered if they knew each other long enough so it was justified that she noticed the difference. “See you in a few.”

She hurried to take a shower because for some reason it felt strangely uncomfortable to be physically away from Perrie. She had no idea what was suddenly wrong and what she’d done to upset her, so the urge to finish the shower was even bigger.

When Jade was fully dressed and walked back into her bedroom, Perrie had already done her makeup and wore the same clothes as yesterday, Jade’s clothes folded on the bed. “You didn’t have to do that,” Jade murmured with a sheepish smile and looked at Perrie, who still seemed a bit distant. “Do you still want to come to the mall with me or do you want me to drop you off at your home?”

Perrie shrugged without really looking at Jade and it really bugged her – what on earth had Jade done wrong? Just a few minutes ago they had been chatting comfortably, they had woken up nicely with each other in their arms and feeling warm and cosy. They didn’t talk and it didn’t feel uncomfortable or forced and now this?

“What did I do wrong? Why are you mad at me?”

“I’m not mad,” Perrie muttered and scratched the back of her neck. “It’s just… ugh, it’s stupid, forget it.”

Jade pouted and walked closer to Perrie until she stood right in front of her. She grabbed her hands and entwined their fingers, feeling a spark running through her body. “If it upsets you it’s not stupid… please tell me?”

Perrie looked at Jade and took a deep breath. “I… well, it’s really stupid, but I don’t know… there’s nothing between you and Jesy, right? And there never has been?”

Jade couldn’t help but smile and breath out in relief – she hadn’t even noticed she’d held in her breath. “No, there had never been anything more than friendship between me and Jesy. We’ve just been friends for a really, really long time and when I came out to her, she was really supportive and all, but even without making it clear that she didn’t want anything from me, I never even considered being with her like that. I’m happy she’s with Jake.”

Perrie sighed and ran a hand through her hair, “You probably think I’m an idiot now, don’t you?”

Jade shook her head and smiled. “No, I promise. I have to admit I’m a bit jealous of your friend Leigh-Anne too because she is really lucky – she’s known you for the past eight years, while I only got the pleasure now even though we lived in the same city for ages.”

Perrie giggled and looked down at their entwined hands with a blush. “You really are?”

“Promise,” the brunette answered. She took a step back and dropped their hands, “But now I really need to get going because I think I’m going to be late.” She laughed and left the bedroom, Perrie following her quickly. They hurried while they put on their jackets and shoes and scarves and gloves and when they ran down the stairs, Perrie had to catch the girl literally three times.

“You’re really the clumsiest person I’ve ever met,” Perrie laughed once they got into the car. Usually Jade didn’t use it to get to work but today was an exception because she had Perrie with her, and she’d hopefully find a parking lot soon.

Luck seemed to be on her side today and she didn’t even have to look for more than a minute to find a spot. The two of them hurried inside the mall, where Fred was already waiting for Jade – the stall hadn’t opened yet, so she guessed she was still punctual.

“Good morning, Fred,” Jade greeted with red cheeks and hoped both Perrie and Fred would blame it on the cold.

“Good morning,” Perrie smiled sheepishly at the male, who smiled at the two knowingly. Well, he probably thought he knew – he most likely thought more had happened than actually did happen.

“Morning,” he greeted the two girls.

“Fred, would you mind if I brought Perrie to her working place during the coffee break? I promise I’ll be quick and I’ll even give you the money for the coffee without even drinking one,” Jade asked her boss, who nodded his head quickly,

“Sure thing, no problem. And you ain’t gonna have to pay for something you’re not using.”

“Thanks,” the two girls said at the same time. They looked at each other and giggled while Jade got inside the booth.

“So,” Perrie said, “I would like to buy two wreaths please.”

Jade grinned and nodded her head, trying to stay serious. She picked out one of the prepared ones before she wrapped it and then looked at the decorations. She managed to find a box filled with ornaments in shapes of objects and decided to pin them to the wreath; a music note, a goat, a couple of hearts, snowflakes and stars, and even an ice skating shoe. Then she added a few bows simply because she loved bows and showed it to Perrie.

“This is my favourite,” the blonde replied with a grin.

“Mine too,” Jade smiled sheepishly and wrapped it up before handing both of them to the blonde. Perrie handed her twenty-three pounds, but Jade shook her head. “It’s really just eighteen pounds, not that many.”

“But the ice skating was really expensive,” she pouted.

“This is my work,” Jade replied, “and the ice skating was personal. It was my pleasure to invite you to that and I’m not going to accept you repaying me in tips.”

Perrie frowned. “Will you take twenty?”

“Perrie.”

“Jade,” the blonde replied in the same tone. “Look, I can’t give you eighteen because I don’t have it exactly.”

“I’m sure I can give you your change.”

“Not if I’m not here anymore,” she laughed and took the wreaths, leaving the twenty pounds note lying on the table, before she skipped off. Jade shook her head with a smile and looked at Fred, whose presence she had completely forgotten.

“Isn’t that adorable,” he laughed. “You two make a great couple and I’m glad you got more out of this job than just money for Christmas and a fantastic working experience.”

…

_Perrie: I just found two pounds in my pocket._

_Jade: Oops, I wonder how they got there ;)_

_Perrie: It was a present :(_

_Jade: The ice skating was a present too and you don’t seem to accept it either :-/_

_Perrie: Alright, alright, I give up, you win_

_Jade: Yay!!! Btw, I wanted to ask if you wanted to come over? c:_

_Perrie: I’d love to!_

_Jade: I’ll pick you up. Are you at home?_

_Perrie: No, I’m taking a walk with one of the kids. I’ll give you a ring when I’m there, alright?_

_Jade: Sure thing, can’t wait_

_Perrie: Me neither, bye_

It didn’t take long until Jade’s phone was ringing and she let it ring twice before answering so she wouldn’t appear desperate (because sadly enough she’d been waiting for Perrie to call all this time and she didn’t want the blonde to know how much she had missed her).

“I’m there,” the blonde spoke through the phone. Jade was about to leave when the door bell rang and she sighed deeply,

“Wait a second, there’s someone at the door. I’ll be with you in a second.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Perrie laughed and when Jade opened the door to reveal her guest, she was surprised to see a blonde girl with red cheeks and a red nose in front of her door.

“Perrie!” She gasped and stepped aside. “Come on in. I didn’t expect you to be here.”

The blonde giggled and took off her scarf. “I thought I’d surprise you but you kind of ruined it by texting me if I wanted to come. I was already past the mall when you asked me.”

“It was still a surprise,” Jade reassured her and felt the butterflies in her stomach when Perrie kissed her right cheek. “I’m happy to see you. I kind of missed you…”

“I missed you too,” Perrie giggled and looked down at her feet.

“Uh, do you want something to drink? Eat? We’re also alone in the apartment because Jakesy decided to move to his place for the next couple of days,” Jade explained.

“Jakesy?”

“I like to give couples these names, you know? Like Brangelina?”

Perrie giggled, “God, you’re so cute.” She looked at Jade and raised an eyebrow, “what would our name be?”

Jade blushed deeply and looked at her feet, trying to pretend as if she hadn’t given it a thought yet. “I dunno… Pade? Jerrie?”

“Hm…” Perrie murmured considering and stepped closer to Jade. “I like the sound of Jerrie, to be honest…” She grinned and looked at Jade’s lips, who seemed to be frozen on her spot. Now that Perrie was so close, she once again felt like kissing the older girl and maybe this counted as an invitation?

“You do?” Jade asked and looked up into Perrie’s piercing blue eyes. Those were still looking at Jade’s lips but the brunette felt like freaking out because this was so unexpected that she quickly threw her arms around Perrie to hug her tightly. She let go of her and when she stepped back, she avoided her eyes and walked into the living room, where the telly was on.

Perrie didn’t say anything for a while and for the first time, the silence between the two of them was awkward. So far it had always been nice and easy, just the two of them being near each other and enjoying the other’s presence. But now… Jade had kind of ruined it.

“I’m sorry,” Perrie whispered after a while and turned around in her seat to look at Jade. “That was… I don’t know? It’s just… I thought you, uh, maybe, wanted this too?” She moved her hands between the two of them. “And… I feel like I’m moving faster than you and I’m not really sure if I can handle that.”

“No, no, no, no,” Jade said quickly and waved her arms in front of her body. “No, really. I don’t know. I do want this, it’s just… As I said, I haven’t been with anyone in a while? Like, properly. It didn’t mean anything, just to… you know. Feel something for the night. And you matter to me a great deal and I don’t want to… I don’t know, disappoint you? I really want this,” she tried to explain and moved closer. She reached out for Perrie, almost without noticing really, and put her hand on the blonde’s knee. “You’re so… great and you seem so careless and relaxed and I don’t want to fuck it up.”

Perrie’s face fell and she almost looked at Jade with pity in her eyes. She quickly wrapped her arms around the older girl and sighed. “I’m sorry if I was asking for too much too soon. It’s just that I really care about you and you matter a great deal to me as well and I just thought… I couldn’t hold back if that’s what you wanted.”

“Sorry,” Jade whispered. “I do want it, all of it, with you, but I don’t want to disappoint you, you know? I mean, there’s been this tension building up between us for a while now and what if it’s not as good as you think it is? And then I opened myself to you and you decide you don’t want it anymore?”

Perrie looked at her with an opened mouth and shook her head, “I swear to God, that could never ever happen. I’m sorry if I made you feel like that, oh my God. I swear I won’t do that, ever, because I don’t know what to expect either, and I just know that it’ll be worth it because you’re amazing and I kind of really want to be with you.”

Jade blushed and looked down at where there hands were entwined in their laps now that they sat so close to each other again – she hadn’t even noticed that they were holding hands; it just came naturally and maybe Jade really just needed to calm down. Everything was going to be fine eventually, she was now sure of that.

“You know,” Jade murmured, “it’s already the fifteenth of December. I’m not going to sell wreaths on the twenty-fourth or after that anymore… what’ll be your excuse then to come and see me every day?”

“That’s actually a good question, which I haven’t thought about yet… that one day the stall was closed I was just really, really lucky. And the day after that I was sort of really sad because I didn’t get to see you again.”

Jade giggled and couldn’t believe she was still behaving like this. “Oh, believe me, you’re not alone. Jesy was really frustrated with me because I was all mope-y that day and she said she would have opened her own stall that day to keep me from whining.”

“Maybe she should do that, because then I’d have a new excuse to come and see you every day,” Perrie muttered and looked at Jade hopefully.

With a smile on her lips Jade replied, “You know, I’m really glad you and I are, like, talking about stuff and not avoiding the subjects that bother us. I’m sure it’s saving us a lot of trouble.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Perrie replied and her eyes darted to Jade’s lips once more before she looked up again quickly and then let her head drop against the sofa, her eyes closed. “Please start wearing a skiing mask or become ugly because this is just mean.” She pouted and then shook her head. “Sorry, that was a stupid thing of me to say.”

Jade’s stomach did somersaults and she hid her face behind her hands so Perrie wouldn’t see how red her cheeks had turned. She hoped she’d get used to Perrie around her because she wasn’t sure if she could handle feeling like this for the rest of her life.

The two of them lay on the sofa, zapping through channels until there was really only crap left – Perrie stretched and sat up, looking at her phone to check the time. “You’ve been a great host but I’ve got to get going now.”

Jade pouted and looked at her fingers. “I mean, uh, you could sleep here again, if you wanted?”

Perrie smiled but shook her head, “no, thank you. The children keep asking me where I go all the time and I don’t really know what to answer them so I’d like to sleep at home for the night to calm them down a bit – at least the little ones. The older knows already understood, ha ha…”

Jade nodded her head and smiled. “Alright, do you want me to drive you?”

“Never mind, I haven’t walked properly in a while, thanks to you, and I need the daily exercise,” Perrie laughed and made her way into the hallway, closely followed by Jade. The older girl noticed something was off and wondered if it was because of… earlier. She didn’t say anything because Perrie was probably embarrassed and she’d talk about it with Jade when she was ready for it and maybe less embarrassed – that’s the least she could do for the blonde.

“Will you text me when you get home safely? I don’t want to have to worry about you,” Jade murmured sheepishly and hid her rosy cheeks behind her messy hair.

Perrie nodded and leaned in peck Jade’s right side again, causing the brunette to feel her stomach doing somersaults again. “I will. See you soon,” she said and then she was out the door, leaving Jade feeling somehow weird about their departure.

Jade didn’t get a text that night anymore.

…

Perrie showed up at the stall the next day but when Jade tried to be cute and adorable around her and said that she’d worried because she didn’t get a text, the blonde only murmured a half-hearted apology before she paid Jade the money for the two wreaths – exactly eighteen, and although it made Jade happy because she’d given up on the tips seemingly, it was somehow really weird – and then left. She didn’t even dance or skip this time, she just walked away, saying a quick good bye and then she was gone.

Fred didn’t say anything about it, even though he was present while the whole thing happened, and she was grateful he didn’t, but most of all she wished it hadn’t happened it all. For some reason this was more uncomfortable than all the times Fred had witnessed the two of them being way too cute next to each other.

When Jade came home after work, her phone was just as empty as the flat – no phones or texts, and no Jesy or Jake anywhere hiding in a room. It made her feel a little lonely. If at least Jesy was here, they could watch some sad movie with a happy ending and ice cream on the sofa with Jesy’s feet on the table and Jade would pretend to care even after all this time and Jesy would take them off until to put them back on, like, ten minutes into the movie.

But now she was with Jake in his apartment and she didn’t want to bother her friend because she deserved being happy with a boy that made her feel so incredibly free and Jade didn’t want to take it away by tying her back onto the ground with her heavy problems.

To say that Jesy wouldn’t even care anyway was stupid and Jade knew that, because Jesy had always been a worrywart when it had been about her and it would hopefully always be that way. She loved living with Jesy in their small and cold apartment because at least it was their small and cold apartment and they’d always had each other…

God, she was making mountains out of molehills. She was just being in a sad mood because of how Perrie suddenly treated her and she found problems were there weren’t any – if Perrie was here right now with her she wouldn’t care that Jesy wasn’t in the flat.

It took her a while to fall asleep that night, but at least she could use up the whole warm water.


	7. Chapter 7

Jade’s routine didn’t change for the next few days – she got to work punctually, Perrie would come by to buy the wreaths (but Jade didn’t have any chance to treat her any differently than any of the other customers), she got home, Jesy wouldn’t be there, she would eat alone, take a really, really long shower and go to bed.

It was the twentieth when she decided she couldn’t wait for Perrie to come around and make up her mind anymore. She wanted this and she knew the blonde wanted this too, so what was keeping them from at least _talking_ to each other?

She took her shower in the morning on this day, put on some decent perfume – not that Perrie could smell it anyway – and put on some makeup. She really wanted Perrie to talk to her today again, so she hoped wearing the jumper and jeans she had worn to their second date would do the trick. It was for certain that she’d try to start a conversation again, but it surely didn’t harm.

Jesy had texted her in the morning, saying that she’d come home today again so she shouldn’t eat anything on her way home from the mall and also that she’d love for Jade (and Perrie) to come to the performance of her dance class’s Christmas special.

“Good morning, Fred!” The brunette greeted her boss more cheerily than she had the past few days and the male raised his eyebrows hopefully. He had hated seeing her so down, yet he admired how well she played in front of the customers – nobody should have been able to tell anything, except for the blonde, maybe.

Jade went to prepare some wreaths right away and even started to wonder about what she could make for Perrie today. Then a thought crossed her mind – how many more of those could the blonde need? She had never actually been inside the orphanage and she didn’t know how many children there were but she would probably be done _before_ the twenty-fourth…

Pouting she leaned back against the counter. There weren’t many people and Fred had told her she needn’t take care of them because that’s what he’d been doing all day and she was supposed to prepare some wreaths, like almost every day.

Around noon Fred went on his coffee break – he still took his time because he secretly seemed to hope for Jade and Perrie to work everything out – and Jade also took a small break from preparing wreaths. Less than half a minute later she already spotted Perrie walking towards the stall with her eyes looking at the floor.

Jade bit her lip and took a deep breath, because there went all or nothing. “Okay, so, I know we haven’t exactly been talking in the past few days but Jesy’s a dancing teacher and her class has a performance today and I wondered if you wanted to come with? There’s also food and drinks and it’s really nice and I really missed you.” She closed her mouth and breathed in through her nose, realising she hadn’t even breathed at all while blurting out these words.

With raised eyebrows Perrie looked at Jade, considering, and then pursed her lips. “Yeah, sure, why not? When are you going to pick me up?” She looked happier but there was still something distant in her eyes, like she wasn’t sure if this was a good idea.”

“At five, if you don’t mind? The youngest in her group is seven years old so they have to hold it a bit earlier because her family is very religious and the girl has to go to church tomorrow…”

Perrie slowly nodded her head and then offered the girl a smile, which looked a bit forced.

Jade already put out the two wreaths – she had made it a force of habit to prepare the individual one for Perrie already before the blonde even came to save them both some time (it had really been awkward between them the last few days) – and continued, “You’re not going to regret it, I promise. And thanks for saying yes. Today’s date is on me again.” She handed her the wreaths and accepted the money – eighteen pounds, like the previous days – before she watched Perrie walk away.

This time the blonde looked back at her again before she was out the door and even smiled at her.

…

When Jade waited in front of the orphanage, she didn’t know how to react. How would Perrie expect her to react? Would she expect a kiss on the cheek? A hug? A hand shake? Nothing? It was hard to tell because they had been apart for longer than Jade had anticipated.

She hopped out of the car as she saw the blonde slipping through the door. “Hi,” she breathed out nervously, her breath hitching. Opening her mouth, she quickly closed it again and then opened the door for the younger girl to get inside. “It should be warm enough because I let the motor on but let me know if you want it any warmer.”

Perrie smiled and nodded, “no, thanks, it’s perfect this way. And please stop being so nervous and nice to me, you did nothing wrong.” She giggled and Jade closed the door. While she walked around the car she let out a breath and told herself to calm the fuck down because everything was going to be alright.

With a little bit of luck, snow wasn’t the only thing she’d have for Christmas.

They listened to music on the way to the gym – because they held their performance in the gym where they always practised, but it was redecorated – and even managed to hold up some meaningless chatter. It definitely comforted Jade. She had really missed Perrie a lot.

Before Perrie could get out of the car on her own once the car was parked, Jade already hurried around the vehicle and opened the door for the blonde and held out her hand. Perrie giggled and covered her mouth and with her other hand she grabbed onto Jade’s fingers, letting the older girl pull her out and onto her feet. “Thank you,” the blonde whispered and looked down a bit now that they stood really close.

“You’re welcome,” Jade breathed out and took Perrie’s hand before grinning and leading her into the gym hall. There were a few people sitting on the stands and the majority of them seemed like twice their age, so they felt a bit young, but then Perrie spotted Jake and they walked over to where he sat.

“Hey there,” the male greeted the two of them and smiled as he noticed that they were holding hands. Neither Jake nor Jesy knew that they hadn’t really been talking the last few days because they had seemingly locked themselves in his flat (didn’t he have to go to work sometimes?). Even today after work Jade hadn’t seen her flat mate – she could smell the stew the older girl had made when she’d come home, but Jesy had pinned a note to the fridge saying “there was enough left for her and her love” and that they’d see each other at the performance tonight.

The girls sat down, still holding onto each other’s hand, and Jade was somehow nervous – she could see Jake was too and grinned brightly, realising once again how well Jake and Jesy worked together. “You know, she’s a great teacher,” Jade told him reassuringly but she wasn’t sure if she was convincing more him or herself. She knew she was but at the same time she couldn’t help but be nervous because that’s the way Jesy would react right now.

“I know,” Jake coughed and blushed, causing Jade to laugh and leaning back into Perrie, who giggled and let the brunette do so. She couldn’t deny she had missed her a great deal as well.

The three of them kept talking about whatever until the room darkened and almost everyone shut up right away (yet some of the older parents still like to shush everyone who did so much as open their mouths). Jesy walked out from behind a curtain they had put in front of the door to the locker room and looked up to where Jade, Jake and Perrie sat. Almost immediately her worries seemed to fade away and her face shone brightly with sheer excitement. It made Jade burst with pride.

“Good evening, ladies and gentleman. I’m happy to see so many faces at this year’s Christmas performance and I hope you will enjoy it just as much as the children enjoyed practising and performing it! Afterwards I’d like to invite everyone to a glass or cookie right in this very room to celebrate the children’s engagement. We’ll also put on some more music so if any of you feel inspired to dance a bit, you’re welcome to do so. Please, enjoy yourselves!” She nodded her head and the cone of light, that had made Jesy visible, faded away and music started playing.

The first song was _All I Want For Christmas_ and Jade noticed that it wasn’t Mariah Carey’s version, nor any other she’d ever heard – the singer was male. “Jake, have you got any idea who that is?”

The male face palmed himself and shook his head, “It’s me. And the other guys from the band – she had asked me if she could use it for a performance but I hadn’t realised she meant this and I also hadn’t thought she’d _actually_ use it, you know?”

The children jumped around on the stage and even though some looked a bit clumsy – majorly the younger ones although some of them were really, really good – the entire performance per se was incredible. Jesy had really done great work.

Perrie smiled down at Jade, who felt every fibre of her body by the simple presence of the blonde next to her. She couldn’t describe what it was that she wanted but she knew that she wanted all of Perrie, all of it to herself – she was still scared that Perrie wouldn’t like it or that she had higher expectations in Jade but slowly she started to care less about these things because she wanted Perrie.

“I used to hate this song but somehow I can really relate to it,” Perrie whispered, causing Jade’s heart to miss a beat. She shifted a bit, feeling her cheeks heat and she looked at the blonde,

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

_I won’t even wish for snow because, baby, all I want for Christmas is you!_

Snuggling closer into Perrie, Jade tried to hide how fast her heart was beating and how hot her entire body was – it didn’t affect solely her face anymore and for some reason that didn’t even bother her. Their hands were still entwined between them but then Perrie freed her right hand, which was closer to Jade, from the grasp only to grab it with the right and then she put her right behind Jade, wrapping around her waist and pressing her closer into her.

Jade’s breathing stopped for a few seconds there, the touch on her waist so very present that it literally took her breath away. She had to close her eyes and tell herself this was normal until she could suck in some air again.

It was incredible how much Perrie affected her.

The next song was _Baby, It’s Cold Outside_ and again it sounded like Jake’s voice – and the female seemed to be Jesy herself! She had never ever sung on any of the tracks to the dancing performances before!

Even though the song was relatively slow and romantic, the children’s dance fit it perfectly. Jesy had really outdone herself this time.

The third and last song was _Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree_ and this time there was a choir and Jade wondered if Jesy had managed to convince the children to even do a song for their performance. They all looked really excited but also extremely happy afterwards as the lights went on again. Jake hurled down the stands until he reached Jesy and wrapped her into his arms, lifted her off the ground and spun her around, like a cliché movie. Usually the girl would hate such a public show, but this time she could do nothing but giggle excitedly and wrap her arms around the male. “Thanks so much for being here!” She cheered.

She had no idea how but eventually Jade managed to free herself from Perrie – it wasn’t that her grip was hard or anything, it had just been really hard on a mental level to tell herself to get up and congratulate Jesy when it was so extremely comfortable here on the stands – and then the two girls walked down the stands hand in hand (the blonde’s grip tightened around her fingers once Jade almost stumbled, but to be honest, she kind of saw it coming) and only let go off each other when they were right in front of the straight couple.

After a few more seconds Jake finally released Jesy and allowed Jade to engulf her into a hug as well. “I’m so proud of you, that was amazing!” Jade cheered and let go, her arms still on Jesy’s shoulders. “You did an amazing job this year. I told you, you always find the best songs! I mean, you even managed to make _Baby, It’s Cold Outside_ a bit rockier.”  A shiver ran down her spine when she felt the tips of Perrie’s fingers pressing into her back, just barely touching her but still enough to feel it.

“I’m glad you liked it!” Jesy cheered happily and clapped her hands. “I was so nervous because I usually don’t prepare the Christmas performances because I never know what songs to choose – Jake really helped me with that.” Her cheeks turned a shade darker when she looked up at the male, whose arm was wrapped around her waist. “Anyway, we’ve got stuff to drink and eat and some music, so I hope you two enjoy yourselves!”

The song that was playing right now was quite slow and when Jade turned around, she held out her head with a questioning look on her face. “Would you give me the honour of dancing with me?” She asked as formally as she could muster before her expression broke out into a grin.

With a grin Perrie grabbed Jade’s hand and placed her other one on the girl’s waist. Jade positioned her free arm on Jade’s waist as well and inched a bit closer until their foreheads were almost touching but not quite yet. “The only dance I know is the waltz,” Jade murmured embarrassed.

“Don’t worry,” Perrie replied just as quietly. “I’ll happily teach you other stuff. As I said, I wouldn’t mind you being inexperienced in any way.”

“I’m not,” Jade huffed out and followed Perrie’s steps. It wasn’t hard but she could still only look down at her feet.

The blonde giggled after a while and caused Jade to look up. Upon the confused look on the brunette’s face the younger girl explained, “Sorry. It’s just that you look really cute all focused and concentrated.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against Jade’s. “You’re so… much to handle.” It seemed as if she was short of breath.

Jade would be lying if she said she wasn’t – their proximity caused her heart to beat in her throat, her stomach was a mess and shivers kept running down her spine; Perrie surely must feel how wildly she reacted to her and it quite embarrassing, but not enough to make her draw away from the dance. It was nice and warm and she loved being this close to the blonde.

The song changed into something faster and they both took a step away, taking deep breaths and looking at each other with huge smiles on their faces. “I’m really enjoying this date,” Jade murmured sheepishly and let Perrie turn her under her arm.

“If I said I didn’t, it would be a big fat lie,” Perrie giggled and drew Jade closer before pushing her away and turning her once again. “And also, you’re a very quick learner, you know?”

“’s that good?”

“Very,” the younger female laughed and swayed her hips to the side.

The sight made Jade’s head spin and she had to close her eyes to calm herself. Perrie was really driving her insane, but she wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. No matter how unhealthy it may be that her heart beat would always speed up near her – she wouldn’t want to be here with anyone else.

Perrie spun Jade around once more before pushing her away and then drawing her in, their bodies almost crashing into each other. They both smiled widely, their pupils widened and their breaths ragged as the song slowly faded out.

“Hey,” Jade breathed out.

“Hey,” Perrie replied with a grin. They looked into each other’s eyes for a while as the next song started playing, a slow one this time again; blue eyes meeting hazel ones and when Jade licked her lips, Perrie couldn’t help but look at them again. She was about to pull back but then she felt Jade’s hold onto her waist tightening.

The older girl thought that this was it – her chance to make up for it all. She was scared, yes, but she liked Perrie a great deal and she wanted this as well; it wasn’t like the blonde had forced her into any of this.

“You don’t have to,” Perrie whispered quietly, her voice barely audible over the music and chatter of the other people.

Jade closed her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. Her long eye lashes were throwing shadows onto her cheeks and it made Perrie kiss her all over her face. “I want to, though,” Jade murmured shyly and looked up hopefully.

The blonde couldn’t react in any other way. Her mouth was slightly parted and her blue eyes opened widely, staring at Jade unbelievably. “You sure?” She managed to utter after a few more seconds.

Instead of a verbal reply, she felt Jade lean onto her, the shorter one going onto her tiptoes to be exactly as tall as the blonde. Their noses bumped into each other and they both breathed out a laugh before Jade tipped her chin forward and their lips connected.

It was nothing more than that, just a touch of their lips with just a little pressure but it was everything to Jade. Her body was on fire and she felt every of Perrie’s fingers on her waist, every centimetre of skin that was touched by the blonde. A shiver ran down her spine when the other girl moaned softly against Jade, her body going stiff and then relaxed into Jade’s right away, her grip tightening and her body pressing into hers.

When Jade leaned back and away from Perrie to catch some air she felt like she was drowning. Her head was spinning and she couldn’t breathe properly and every fibre of her body felt like it burned hotly. Their foreheads were still touching and she could feel Perrie’s hot breath against her lips – she couldn’t believe they had just had their first kiss and it had felt even better than she’d imagined.

“See,” Perrie whispered and Jade blushed when she heard how out of breath the blonde was, “I told you I would definitely not be disappointed.”

Jade giggled and leaned in once more, pressing their lips together into a kiss again. She didn’t know if she could ever get enough of this feeling but then Perrie pushed her off softly with a laugh, “God, Jade, if you keep doing that I won’t be able to stand any longer.” She touched her forehead and looked at Jade with awe; it almost made the brunette’s heart beat quickly and she feared it might break through her rip cage. “I hope I’ll never get used to this because that… was fucking incredible.”

Jade giggled and leaned back a bit, taking a deep breath but grabbed Perrie’s hands while doing so and moved her a bit in the rhythm of the music that was playing around them. “You’re exaggerating to make me feel better, aren’t you?”

Perrie laughed and moved in closer again but not too close, “Yeah, I think we need to practise some more.”

…

When Jade and Jesy got home that night – for once _both_ of them slept alone in their own beds and Jesy couldn’t stop poking fun at her flat mate at how smitten she was with the blonde.

“Shut it, you,” Jade murmured. Her cheeks had been flaming red for about an hour now and she wondered if they could ever get back to their old colour. “I’m sure you were just as hyper when you and Jake first kissed – although I doubt it took much longer until you kissed more than just his lips.”

“Wait, that was your first kiss?” Jesy asked shocked – apparently she was shocked enough to take her feet off of the table. “I mean you looked pretty touchy after your second date and… I mean, she slept here?”

“I know…” Jade sighed and threw her head back in frustration. “I don’t know, after that date neither of us really… leaned in or anything and we just lay on the sofa and then she was tired and I offered her to sleep here. And then she came here one afternoon and she leaned in for a kiss but I behaved stupid because she really seemed to like me – and still does – and I was scared that I’d break the illusion when I let her kiss me because what if she was disappointed? And I told her that it was the first time in a long time that I’d kissed someone with whom it really mattered and she said she understood but didn’t know if she could be with me if I weren’t as ready for this as she was and I said I was but I didn’t do anything to make her believe it and… we hadn’t really seen each other the past five days and this morning I asked her if she wanted to come with me to your class’s performance and she agreed and I thought it’d be the perfect time to show her I wanted this as much as her…” She hid her face behind her face so she didn’t see when Jesy threw herself on top of her friend.

“You’re such an idiot sometimes,” Jesy laughed and poked her in both sides but quickly held Jade’s arms so she wouldn’t get her elbows into her stomach. “But see, it all worked out alright. Just be yourself and a bit braver and you’ll be on top of the world!”

“I’m over the mo-hoon,” Jade sang and snapped her fingers with a huge smile on her face, “doing my thing, doing my thing! I’m over the mo-hoon, just doing my thing and I won’t come down!”

“I’m over the moon, no silver spoon in my milky way, when Simon told me I was trouble all I said is ‘okay’!” Jesy rapped some of the first verse of Cher Lloyd’s song but before she could go on, Jade had thrown her off of her and giggled,

“I wanted to ask you about Christmas,” Jade said and sat up properly, waiting for Jesy to sit straight again as well. “Like, how do you plan to celebrate it? I guess you want Jake to be there?”

Jesy nodded her head sheepishly and tugged on her dark brown hair. “Yeah, I guess so? I mean, I haven’t talked about it with him yet but if he wants to spend it with me then of course I’d want to celebrate with him as well.”

“So… I wondered if maybe the four of us could celebrate together? To be honest, I don’t know if I’m ready to celebrate with only Perrie because you’re important to me and I want you to be there too and also I don’t even know her for that long… And… I don’t know if I’ve mentioned…” They talked about their plans for Christmas for about half an hour longer until Jade’s eyes were drooping and Jesy had to physically force her into her bedroom, so she could finally get some sleep – today had been a way too eventful day for the young girl.

…

When Perrie came to the stall the next day, her grin was bright and her walk was jumpy from excitement. “Hey,” she whispered towards Jade, who leaned into Perrie over the counter.

“Hi,” she whispered back and looked up into her eyes and then down at the blonde’s lips. “Would it be appropriate to kiss you here where everyone could see us?” When the younger girl didn’t reply for a few seconds she pushed her head forward and connected their lips. It was only for a few seconds but it was enough for Jade’s heart beat to become unsteady and her lungs to run out of air.

“I missed you,” Perrie murmured and looked down at their fingers, who lay on the counter and were barely touching but then again they were.

Jade giggled and nodded, “I missed you too.” Taking a deep breath like it cost her a lot of will power – she wouldn’t admit it but it actually did – she took a step back and wrapped up two more wreaths for the blonde. “It’s Christmas in four days,” Jade muttered.

“Yeah,” Perrie huffed. “I’d love to drop by on Christmas Eve and maybe at night on the twenty-fifth if you, uh, don’t have any other plans? I mean, I’d understand if you wanted to go out with Jesy or go home for the holidays, but. Yeah.”

Jade leaned over the counter and kissed Perrie quickly on the lips – it was more an excuse than anything else – and smiled. “I’d find that very nice, yeah. I suppose you have to work on the twenty-fifth, though?”

Perrie nodded her head and scratched the back of her neck. “Yeah… I would love to spend the whole day with you, but the kids haven’t got anyone else than Zayn, Leigh-Anne and me, so I can’t abandon them, you know?”

“No worries,” Jade smiled and kissed her again when she handed her the wreaths. Perrie put twenty-five pounds on the table, which caused the brunette to shake her head vividly.

“Perrie, for heaven’s sake,” the girl sighed. “I can’t accept that much money from you. Take it back and buy yourself a coffee or something, I don’t need your money.”

Perrie pouted but grabbed the five pounds note from the table. “Fine, but I’m staying with twenty- You have served me very nicely these past few weeks.”

The older female shook her head with a chuckle. “You’re unbelievable.”

“You love me, though,” the blonde laughed and leaned in to press a kiss to Jade’s lips. She was off before she saw the girl’s shocked face about her choice of words.

Of course it was way too early to talk about love in this whole relationship but still, the words had weight. And she hoped Perrie’d stay around long enough for her to be able to express these feelings. Maybe even more. She wanted everything she could get from Perrie and although it sounded cliché and although she was quoting the blonde there, she’d take everything she’d get.


	8. Chapter 8

It was the twenty-second so there were only two days of work left for Jade. She couldn’t believe how quickly time had passed this month and she blamed it majorly on Perrie because she couldn’t remember when she’d been so in love with life the last time. She had been happy and she’d felt alright, but with Perrie around she felt really alive and… just amazing.

Fred had noticed the change in Jade’s mood immediately the day before and he had wanted to ask her questions but even before Jade could reply anything (not that she knew where to start after that amount of questions she had received), the male had waved her off and told her it was none of his business, but that he was just so happy for her.

He expected there’d be a lot of people today, so if the blonde turned up again and they couldn’t have a coffee break, Jade would be allowed to leave it all to Fred for a couple of minutes. It was really sweet of how encouraging he was of the two of them, considering he didn’t really look very open minded. He was about fifty and at first, Jade had thought he would be very conservative, but he was pretty much the opposite – she couldn’t have asked for a better boss.

There were really a lot of people and when it turned one o’clock, there was still no sight of the end of the queue from where Jade and Fred stood. They were both utterly exhausted and wondered if they could just take a break for ten minutes without upsetting people too much, but they didn’t really get to do anything else than prepare wreaths, wrap them up and sell them.

For the first time since Jade knew him, the American seemed to be afraid of not having enough wreaths for the day. “Save two for your girlfriend,” he told her when Jade turned her back to the customers to make some more wreaths. Jade blushed at the words since the two of them hadn’t really discussed what exactly they were yet, but she hoped that the blonde wanted for them to be official just as much.

When it turned three in the afternoon, there were visibly less people in the queue and Jade and Fred hoped they could take a break soon and it really only took about half an hour longer until everyone was gone and they looked at each other in relief.

“I’ll get us a coffee – today’s on me because you did great work. I would have never managed that on my own!” Fred said gratefully and before Jade could object he was already gone.

Jade took out her phone to see if she had gotten any texts from Perrie – which she usually did – to see she had five unread texts from the blonde.

_Perrie: When would be the best time to come today?_

_Perrie: Sorry if you’re busy but when I was there earlier you obviously didn’t have time and I didn’t want to bother you_

_Perrie: Let me know when you’re on your break_

_Perrie: I miss youuuu hope you have a good day!!_

_Perrie: :(_

Instead of texting her, Jade quickly swiped Perrie’s name from left to right to call her. It rang only about two times before a male voice picked up, “Hello?”

“Uh, hi? Who’s there?” Jade asked confused and also a little worried. What was some man doing on Perrie’s phone?

“My name’s Zayn,” the male said. “Did you mean to talk to Perrie? She just went out to the mall to get some wreaths, but she must have forgotten her phone.”

So that was Zayn. Although she had known it was completely ridiculous of her to worry, she still felt a wave of relief running through your body. “Oh, okay, nice to meet you, Zayn.”

“Wait, are you Jade?” The male laughed and Jade could feel herself blushing.

“Uh, maybe? What’d you know about me?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Zayn laughed. “I better hang up now because Perrie should be with you any minute. You better not let her wait, she gets quite grumpy because she’s really impatient.”

“I’ll make sure to remember,” Jade laughed and said her good byes to the male. She turned around to see Perrie already walking towards the stall with a grin upon her beautiful face. “Hey, who were you talking to?” The blonde asked, leaning over the counter and receiving a quick kiss.

“Zayn,” Jade laughed and pocketed her phone. “I saw your texts only now because we were really, really busy today and I wanted to call you that now would be a good time but seems you forgot it – and he picked it up.”

“God, did he say something embarrassing?” The blonde asked and her cheeks, who were already red from the cold outside, turned even darker, in a heavy contrast to the rest of her pale skin.

Jade giggled and shook her head, putting her elbows on the counter and resting her head in the palms of her hands. “No, don’t worry. I just found it funny that he found out who I was without me having to tell him,” she laughed.

Perrie sucked in some air and closed her eyes tightly, “I may or may not have talked way too much about you… is that weird?”

“No,” Jade smiled happily and felt her stomach doing somersaults again. “As long as you didn’t tell him anything bad, it’s fine with me.”

Perrie blushed and laughed, waving her off. “I’d like to buy two wreaths please. And also, today’s going to be the last time I can use that excuse because we have enough now.” She sighed and pouted, pushing her lower lip out. Jade wanted to kiss the frown off her face and wondered if Perrie let her.

“That’s a pity,” Jade sighed, “but I’ll see you in two days for sure, right? We haven’t seen each other anywhere else than here for far too long, and to be perfectly frank I want to see more of you.” She pouted again and when she turned around to hand the wreaths to Perrie, the blonde put her hands on the counter, leaned in as far as she could and grabbed Jade’s cheeks to pull her closer and into a kiss.

Although it still hadn’t been more than the contact of skin, Jade could feel everything in her body when they kissed; every inch of her skin reacted to the touch by letting her hair stand up and a shiver ran down her spine. It was hard to restrain herself from jumping over the counter and wrapping herself around the blonde but somehow she managed.

“Can’t wait,” Perrie huffed out breathlessly and pulled away, dancing away.

When Jade looked at the counter, she saw twenty-five pounds lying there.

…

The next day at work was quite boring. There were even more people than they day before so in some way Jade was glad that Perrie wouldn’t be showing up today because they didn’t have a singly minute off. They really had to tell people to please let them take five minutes off around half past four to catch their breaths and Fred, once again, went to get them some coffee.

Jade looked at her phone again to see she had gotten three messages from Perrie (two of them were just hearts and smiley faces and a turtle and one asked when she’d be off work today), so she quickly typed a reply because she knew now that Perrie would get impatient.

She wondered if Perrie had tried more than twice to come and see Jade yesterday and it made her heart flutter with excitement. _I’ll be off at exactly five, except if Fred wants me to stay longer because it’s the last day, but he hasn’t mentioned anything, so I think we’re good._ She sent the messaged and pocketed her phone just as Fred came back with his own cappuccino and a cup of Early Grey for Jade.

“Fred, may I ask you how come you’re so… supportive of Perrie and I? I know that may sound really weird and I’m sorry if I’m being rude…”

The male smiled and took a sip of his cappuccino. “You must know, back at home I have a husband. He’s about ten years younger than me and fighting in the army, which I wished he didn’t because I’m not exactly the biggest fan of wars, no matter who’s in the right.”

“How did you end up selling wreaths in London?” Jade asked surprised. “And where are you from?”

“My husband and I both grew up in Oklahoma, but we got married in New York city in 2011. I moved here in April because same-sex marriage was legalised here in March and John – my husband – had always loved London. We had planned to move here one day and now I’m waiting for him to follow me here so we can get married. Incidentally I found out that we could get married in Oklahoma now as well, since October, so we’ll see how it turns out when he comes back.” He looked sad and Jade would be lying if she said she didn’t know why; it must be hard to be parted for so long from the one you loved most and on top of that it wasn’t even a comforting reason. She wondered whether she would sometimes question if her spouse was still alive, would it be her.

“Anyway,” Fred continued, “why don’t we sell the… seven wreaths we’ve got left and then go home?” He said after quickly counting the ones that were lying on the table. “It was a true pleasure working with you and I hope you find all the luck in the world.” He hugged the girl, catching her off guard and surprising her for a second, but then she was quick to react and hugged the male back.

“Right back at you.”

When Jade looked at the clock on her phone again she noticed it was twenty minutes to five, so she’d most likely really be finished at five.

It always took people a while to dare to come closer to the stall once there were no more people so it took about ten minutes ‘til the first customer came back and then it went relatively quick, so that they were done about five minutes earlier. “The money should be on your back account already, and thanks again for working with me. I hope we’ll meet again someday.”

Jade nodded gratefully and waved her goodbyes, walking away from the stall – it would be weird not coming back here every day, but she was also glad it was over; who had ever liked working? She still looked back at Fred when she suddenly bumped into someone and was about to apologise wildly when she noticed it was Perrie.

“Hey,” she grinned. “Sorry for running into you.”

The blonde laughed and entwined their fingers quickly, causing Jade to feel the butterflies in her stomach again. “Nothing to be sorry for. It was sort of my intention. Well, maybe not _really_ run into me, but you know what I mean.”

“You came to get me from work?” Jade asked in disbelief, to which Perrie nodded. “You’re incredible.” She threw her arms around the blonde, almost crushing her and when she pulled back she pressed their lips together quickly. It still made Jade dizzy, even though it was probably barely anything.

“Let’s go home, ay?” Perrie asked and tugged on Jade’s hand to lead her out of the mall. “You’re done with working now, aren’t you? You don’t have to work tomorrow?”

“Nope,” Jade smiled and nuzzled into the crook of Perrie’s neck. “I’m free as a bird – although I have to make a business call tomorrow morning, if you don’t mind. I won’t even have to leave the bed.” She giggled and felt herself blushing when she noticed what that sounded like. She didn’t feel like she was ready to take that step with Perrie quite yet but she somehow just indicated that. “I mean, like, we’re probably gonna be tired, and it’s a lazy day and… you know?”

Perrie giggled and squeezed Jade’s hand before pressing a kiss to her head. “Don’t worry, I know,” she assured her. Jade really liked Perrie and all but it had already taken her enough time to dare kiss her, she was sure as hell not ready to take the next step yet.

Their walk to Jade and Jesy’s apartment was quiet but not uncomfortably so. Jade liked that the two of them treated each other as easily as they used to before the older girl kinda sorta rejected Perrie without really intending to – now she couldn’t believe how silly her worries were, because kissing the blonde was one of the most incredible feelings in the world.

They made themselves hot chocolate and got out some biscuits before they went into Jade’s room and sat down on the bed, Jade’s head on Perrie’s shoulder. They were both leaned against the headboard and Perrie’s arm was wrapped around the older girl’s waist, her fingers tracing lines on her stomach above the shirt. It was comfortable and they chatted and laughed. When Jesy and Jake arrived at the flat, the four of them sat down in the kitchen and had dinner together, before they all watched telly in the living room. It wasn’t much later that ‘Jakesy’ excused themselves and went into Jesy’s room, giggling and touchy.

The other two girls stayed in the living room and Jade noticed how touchy Perrie was. She couldn’t deny she loved it. Her fingers were barely there, just tenderly touching, but it made Jade’s heart swell. The older girl was quite tired and exhausted from work and she could hear and the blonde’s heartbeat, softly thumping within her chest. It was like a lullaby and even though she really tried, she couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. “Hey, don’t fall asleep on me,” Perrie whispered quietly so she wouldn’t shock Jade awake. “Literally.” A giggle fell through her parted lips and Jade couldn’t help but smile. She noticed she was now really lying on top of Perrie and rolled off sleepily.

“Sorry,” she muttered and rubbed a hand over her face before sitting up.

“I think you need a bed. It’s more comfortable than the sofa,” Perrie suggested and the fondness in her voice caused Jade’s heart to skip a beat.

She poked out her tongue to hide her blushing cheeks, “I was plenty comfortable.”

Perrie laughed and slung an arm around Jade’s waist, pulling her close and holding her tightly. “I don’t wanna get up but I want you and I both to be comfortable and although I do not mind you using my body as a mattress, I would prefer to lie on a mattress myself as well.”

Jade smiled and knocked her forehead against Perrie’s. “Alright, alright. Let’s get up then.” But neither of them made any movement.

“Yep, let’s get up,” Perrie yawned.

“We should really get up or we’re gonna fall asleep again,” Jade murmured with her eyes closed. The flat was always so cold but Perrie was so soft and warm and the perfect cuddler.

“Yep,” Perrie muttered and let her eyes droop. “We really should.”

“Okay,” Jade laughed and managed to pry her eyes open and push the blonde away. She grabbed her hand and got up, tagging her with her into her bedroom. The two dropped onto the mattress and before Jade could even close her eyes, she felt an arm wrap around her from behind and the next second she was pulled against Perrie’s chest.

“You’re so warm,” the blonde whispered and her hot breath hit Jade’s neck, causing goose bumps to appear there and a shiver to run down her spine.

A content sigh was all the older girl managed in her state of fatigue and she somehow managed to grab the blanket with her eyes closed and threw it atop of herself and Perrie.

It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep with Perrie wrapped around her and the blonde’s rhythmic heart beat singing her to sleep.

…

The twenty-fourth was quite eventless, to be perfectly frank. The couples – Jade wasn’t sure if she could define herself and Perrie because they had not made it clear yet and she didn’t want anything Perrie didn’t want but then again she was scared she was ready for a deeper commitment than Perrie and she had no idea how to ask her about it without sounding stupid and childish and ugh – ate breakfast together and watched some movies until about three in the afternoon.

“I need to go now,” Perrie sighed and got up from the sofa, Jade following her into the hall immediately. “Thanks for letting me stay the night and also… everything else.” Her cheeks were in dark contrast to her light skin. “Also thank Jesy for me, please.”

“No problem,” Jade smiled, “and will do. It was lovely to have you here.”

“Yeah?”

Jade nodded her head sheepishly and tugged a strand of hair behind her face when she looked at her hands nervously. “So… you’re working the whole day tomorrow, right?”

With a sigh Perrie nodded her head. “Yeah… although I would love to spend Christmas with you, I have to admit I think the kids need me more. I mean, there’s Leigh and Zayn, too, but it’s just… It’s always us three and the kids.”

“Don’t you worry, I get it.” Jade smiled at Perrie, who now looked away embarrassed. “I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.” A grin spread across her face at the thought of her present for the blonde, but somehow she managed to suppress it.

“You too.” She leaned forward, pressing her lips to Jade’s softly. Her hand reached up to her cheek, not pulling or grabbing, just lying there, her soft fingers feeling hot on Jade’s skin. Her other hand wrapped around the older girl’s waist, pulling her closer and pressing their bodies together.

Just as Perrie’s lips parted, Jade pulled back to take a breath; her chest was heaving. “I’ll miss you,” she giggled and pressed their foreheads together, not daring to open her eyes. She felt Perrie’s searching gaze on her, but she avoided it, knowing she probably made her feel rejected again. She quickly pressed her lips to Perrie’s again before pulling back but still holding her hands. “You want me to drive you?”

“No, I like walking. I’ll call you tonight, yeah?”

Jade smiled brightly and nodded. Another kiss to Perrie’s lips. “Can’t wait. Get home safely. And you sure you don’t want me to drive you?”

“I’m sure,” Perrie smiled. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

…

It was about midday on the twenty-fifth, when Jake, Jesy and Jade got into the van in front of the door. Jake was driving and Jesy was in the middle seat while Jade was by the right window – she could see the male’s hand on his girlfriend’s knee during the whole drive, even though she was looking outside. She was the only one who knew the way to the orphanage and the longer the drive was, the more nervous and excited she became; thankfully the drive wasn’t very long.

“Thanks for helping me with this,” Jade told the other two when they were almost there. “It means a lot to me and hopefully also to Perrie.”

Jesy smiled and nodded, “Of course it will! I couldn’t imagine anything else.”

The younger girl took a deep breath when Jake slowly stopped the car in front of the orphanage and the three of them climbed out of the van. With a bit shaky hands, Jade rang the bell and a few seconds later, the door was opened by a black haired female.

“Hello, may I help you?”

“Uh, hi. Uh, my name is Jade? And I –”

“Are you _the_ Jade?” The female giggled and Jade assumed she was Leigh-Anne.

“Uh, I guess I am?”

“Gosh, are you cute,” Leigh-Anne laughed. “I’ll get Perrie. Wait a second.”

“Actually – could you, uh. Could you make Perrie leave for like two minutes? Like, make her go to the kitchen or the bathroom or whatever. I – or we – have a surprise for her. Well, for all of you. But I want it to be really big for Perrie. If you… like. Don’t mind?” She stuttered and felt her cheeks become warmer with every second. She was glad when she finally shut up because she was seriously rambling too much and it was more than simply embarrassing.

Leigh-Anne’s smile split into a full-on grin and she nodded her head in excitement. “Sure thing! Just give me a second, and I’ll be with you.”

Jade nodded and watched as Leigh walked back into the house. It only took her a few seconds before she came back and nodded encouragingly. “Can I help you?”

“Actually, yes. If you and Zayn could help us unload the van?”

“Zayn!” Leigh-Anne called into the house and a few seconds later a black haired – extremely gorgeous – male came into the doorway and grinned brightly at Jade. He shook his head before reaching out his hand for Jade to shake.

“I’m Zayn,” he told her, “and it’s great to finally meet you. I heard a lot of great things. What can we do to help you sweep the beautiful Perrie off of her feet?”

Jade’s cheeks turned a dark shade of red and she hoped they would blame it on the cold. “Well, uh. I hope you don’t mind but we all… we collected toys and stuff for the kids. I mean, Perrie told me you guys don’t really have the money to give them anything and we all have way too much toys neither of us have used in years… yeah.”

“Oh my god,” Leigh-Anne gasped and clutched her heart, looking at Zayn with big eyes. “No wonder Perrie’s so smitten.”

“She’s smitten with me?” Jade asked sheepishly.

Zayn and Leigh both smiled at her. “God, you don’t even know. Alright, let’s help you.” They both hurried down the stairs to the street, where Jesy and Jake were waiting at the van. They had opened the door to the van already and had started taking out presents, stacking them in their arms.

“I’m Jesy and this is Jake,” the female introduced themselves to the two.

“Zayn and Leigh-Anne,” the other female smiled and pointed first at the dark haired male and then herself. “It’s nice to meet you. And thanks so much for what you’re doing.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Jesy smiled and put her stack into Leigh’s arms. Then she started putting more into her own. Soon the five of them all held as many presents as they could, leaving the van empty, and then they walked up the stairs to the orphanage, Zayn and Leigh leading the way.

“You need to be quiet now, kids,” Zayn told them and the younger ones put their fingers to their mouths and all made a ‘shh’ sound. All of them looked excitedly at the five adults and the older ones got up from the floor, gaping at them.

“This is Jade, isn’t it?” A blond boy asked, looking at the brunette. “I’ve seen pictures of you.” He grinned and took some presents, helping putting them under the huge Christmas tree. It was scarcely covered with baubles and stars, the majority of it seemingly self-made by children.

Jade blushed and put the rest of the presents in her arms under the trees. She was about to say something when she heard Perrie’s voice from another room, “Okay, I looked everywhere but I couldn’t find any more blueberry muffins!” Her steps rang through the air as everyone held their breaths, looking expectantly at the door.

One second later, the blonde stood in the door and she stopped in her steps, looking at the five adults and the children in the room. Her eyes darted to the floor below the tree, where all the presents lay, and then directly at Jade.

“Merry Christmas,” Jade whispered and the blonde gasped.

“No,” she whispered, her eyes becoming shiny with tears. “No, you didn’t.”

“She did,” Leigh-Anne grinned at her friend.

“And they did, too,” Zayn smiled and made a hand gesture at Jake and Jesy, who gave a short nod as a sign of greeting towards Perrie. Zayn and Leigh-Anne both looked happily at everyone, seemingly just as amazed by how this day had turned out as the children and Perrie.

“Oh my god,” the blonde breathed out before she ran up to the brunette, throwing her arms around her. “Thank you so much,” she cried into her shoulder, almost crushing Jade’s bones while hugging her. “This is… incredible.”

“Merry Christmas,” was Jade’s only reply and she closed her eyes, hugging Perrie back.

“Go open your presents, kids!” Jesy encouraged and clapped her hands together in excitement to draw away the attention from the two entwined girls. The room erupted into cheers and soon it was filled with the sound of ripping paper and excited squeals.

“I can’t believe you guys did this,” Perrie whispered and pressed a kiss to Jade’s lips before letting go off her and hugging Jake and Jesy at the same time. “This is amazing.”

“It was Jade’s idea,” Jake smiled and nodded at the girl. “We gladly agreed to help, but it was all her.”

Perrie’s eyes were teary as she looked at the brunette. “You’re incredible, did you know that?”

“Oh, stop it, you,” Jade answered blushing and waved her hand to dismiss the compliment. “It was nothing. Neither of us uses the stuff anymore and we better give it to the kids first hand before we donate it and nobody sees it ever again.”

“This means the world to me. And also that I can celebrate Christmas with you.” Perrie wrapped her arm around Jade’s waist, pulling her close to her body. “You have no idea.”

Blushing deeply at her words, she ducked her head and leaned into the other girl, hiding her face from her. “I’m glad,” she answered quietly, only for Perrie to hear and the adults watched as the children kept unwrapping the presents. For the most part they were sharing the presents equally and they switched if they saw someone had presents they liked better and to Jade’s surprise, there was no fighting over anything.

While the younger children were playing with the toys and the older ones were talking about various topics, Jade, Jesy, Jake, Perrie, Zayn and Leigh-Anne were all sitting on the sofa and talking about their plans for New Year’s Eve. “It’d be nice if we could all celebrate together again,” Jade mentioned and looked sheepishly at the blonde, whose face turned into an expression of pure joy at those words.

“I’d like that.”

“You know what?” Zayn intervened and shifted forward in his seat. “Perrie, you’re not going to work on New Year’s Eve. It’s your turn now. Leigh and I had our days off on New Year’s Eve, and we know you love the kids and all, but we agree that you deserve to have a holiday off. You seriously do so much for them and you deserve to be alone with your girl for the big night.”

Perrie scoffed but leaned forward, closer towards Jade, who sat in her lap. “It’s not that big of a night… it’s not like it’s our wedding or something.” As soon as the words left her mouth she regretted having said them, but Jade only bumped their shoulders together and grinned.

“Still,” Leigh laughed and nodded at Zayn. “Go celebrate the start of 2015 with your girl.”

“I totally wouldn’t mind,” Jade giggled and smiled back at Perrie. “You could come to Jesy and mine, we always shoot fire works off the roof top and drink champagne. It’s a great view.” She smiled and Perrie realised that if Jade looked at her like that, she could never deny her anything.

“Sounds perfect.”


	9. Chapter 9

On Jade’s birthday Perrie came to get Jade and Jesy from their flat and while the two younger girls waited for Jesy to come out from the bathroom, Perrie looked very nervous. “Are you okay?” Jade asked and poked the other girl in the side with a smile playing around her lips.

Perrie’s face split into a grin and she grabbed Jade’s fingers, which had poked her, and entwined them with her own. “Well, to be honest I wanted to talk to you but I didn’t know how to start.”

Jade raised an eyebrow and took a step closer until she could comfortably place her hand around Perrie’s petit waist. “I’m listening,” she smiled encouragingly.

“Uh, alright, so, um, we haven’t really talked about it, but, like, maybe you… want to be my girlfriend? Like, officially? I mean… I don’t know.”

Jade’s soft smile turned into a full-blown grin and she pressed her lips to Perrie’s briefly. “Of course, I’d love to! I’d wanted to ask you, too, but I’d been too shy.” She giggled nervously and licked her lips, to which Perrie let out a relieved laugh.

“Okay, good, that’s settled then, girlfriend.”

Jade giggled awkwardly again and bit her lip to hide her excitement. “Okay, girlfriend.”

“You’re so sweet, it’s making me want to puke,” Jesy poked fun at them as she walked out of the bathroom. She was wearing a wine red silky dress and black high heels along with a vibrant red lipstick and her hair straightened. “I think it’s time for us all to leave ‘cause Jake is surely waiting downstairs and if I need to look at you two any longer, I’m really going to puke.” She winked and grabbed a purse that matched her outfit before she walked through the entrance door, followed by Perrie and Jade. The latter locked the door behind them before she grabbed her _girlfriend’s_ hand and walked down the stairs to where Jake was waiting.

“Ladies,” he smiled at all of them and did a little courtesy bow before taking Jesy’s hand and placing a soft kiss upon its back without removing his eyes from her gaze. The female blushed and let her boyfriend lead her to the left side of the car.

Jade and Perrie got in themselves, both their hands intertwined between them. All of their faces were bright and happy and glowing and Jade wondered how she’d ever become so lucky.

…

 

“Can you believe it’s almost 2015?” Perrie giggled as she slipped an arm around Jade’s waist. The older girl immediately leaned into the touch, relishing in the feeling of having her _girlfriend_ touch her. She would never grow tired of it.

“Can you believe we have managed to live this long without each other?”

“Seems impossible to me now,” Perrie whispered into her girlfriend’s ear. She pressed her lips to the brunette’s cheek and tightened her grip around her waist. “What would I ever do without you?”

“We need to stop being so sappy, it’s disgusting,” Jade laughed softly and put her head on the blonde’s shoulder.

The blonde’s face split into a grin and shook her head. “Nah, it’s adorable. You’re adorable.”

“Shut up,” Jade laughed and lifted her head only to press her lips against Perrie’s. Her lips tasted like cherry champagne Jesy had made earlier today. She smelled like vanilla and sandal wood and her hair felt as soft as silk between her fingers as they danced from the back of her head down to her bare spine. “This dress is the best thing that has happened to me,” Jade murmured against Perrie’s skin. “It doesn’t leave much to my imagination.” Even without opening her eyes she could feel the blonde’s cheeks catch fire as a giggle fell through her parted mouth.

“We should go outside to Jake and Jesy.”

“Jakesy,” Jade replied with a grin, no intention of moving away from Perrie.

The blonde rolled her eyes but smiled. “Okay. Jakesy. Come on, or we’ll miss the countdown.”

Jade poked the other girl in the side before she took a step back and grabbed her hand. The two of them walked outside into the stairwell and up onto the roof of the building. A few of their neighbours and Jade’s roommate plus her boyfriend stood on the roof, drinking champagne and sparkling wine and singing along to music.

“There you are!” Jesy laughed and wrapped her arms around the two girls. “We already thought you wouldn’t come up here anymore, to be honest.”

“You did,” Jake laughed and put his arm around Jesy’s shoulders, pulling her in.

“Yeah, okay,” Jesy admitted with a laugh and took a sip from her glass – cherry champagne. Jade blushed at the sight of the drink. “I thought you were doing the naughty naughty.”

Perrie laughed out loudly, quickly covering her mouth, whereas Jade turned as red as a tomato. “Do you have any more of that?” She asked quickly and pointed at the glass in Jesy’s grip.

“Fortunately for you, I do,” she grinned and handed both of the other females a glass. “To 2015! May it be the best year to date.”

Jade smiled at Perrie, clinking their glasses together. “To 2015!” They cheered before all of them took a sip. The red liquid warmed Jade a bit and she leaned into the soft touches of her girlfriend. The four of them stood there for a few more minutes, chatting nonchalantly as suddenly around them starting counting down from sixty.

Jade emptied her glass with one last gulp and turned to Perrie, all bright smiles and red cheeks. “I’m happy I can start the new year with you.”

Perrie smiled at her too her face aflame. “I’m very happy about that, too.” They joined the countdown and with every second passing, Jade’s excitement level increased. Her hands, which were holding onto Perrie’s, were warm and soft and she couldn’t help but lean into the blonde.

“Just kiss me,” Perrie giggled and their lips locked as the people around them were counting down the last few seconds. It wasn’t any different from the other kisses they had exchanged so far, but to Perrie it felt like Jade was finally letting go and giving her all to her. She felt her heart swell within her chest, growing and beating fast. She was scared it would break through her rib cage but she felt sure Jade would catch it and make sure it was safe.

The sensation was so overwhelming that it took Perrie’s breath away, causing her head to spin a bit. Jade pulled away and before the blonde could open her mouth and speak the three words that were burning her tongue, Jade smiled and whispered, “Happy New Year, Perrie.”

The younger female took a deep breath and rested her head against Jade’s, her eyes closed. “Happy New Year, Jade.”

A few hours later, Jade and Perrie finally stumbled into the older girl’s room, giggly and a little bit tipsy. “It’s 2015,” Perrie whispered against Jade’s lips.

“Yeah, and you’re my wasted girlfriend,” Jade laughed, pressing a kiss to Perrie’s lips.

The blonde nuzzled into Jade under the blanket, pulling her close and looking at her with the most serious expression she could manage in her state. “You know, I’d really like to have sex with you.”

Jade’s eyes widened but then she smiled. “I wouldn’t mind, but right now you’re too drunk.” She kissed Perrie’s nose and cuddled into her.

“You really wouldn’t mind?”

“No, of course not. You’re my girlfriend. I desire you, you’re beautiful and sexy and gorgeous. Anyone with eyes would love to.”

Perrie smiled and kissed her girlfriend on the lips. “Okay. Tomorrow.”

“We’ll see,” Jade laughed, but Perrie was already asleep.

…

When Jade woke up in the morning (if you could call it ‘morning’ at three in the afternoon), she was alone in bed. She wondered where Perrie had gone almost the instant she was half-conscious and moved her arms around, searching, but there was no body in the bed except for her own. The spot beside her was still warm though, so she couldn’t be far.

She waited a few minutes, considering that maybe the blonde had needed to go to the toilet, but when she didn’t come back, she slowly peeled herself out of the tangled mess of blankets and got out of the bed. She walked into the kitchen first, which was empty and cool, before approaching the bath room. She tried to open the door but it was locked.

“Babe, it’s me. Will you let me in?”

“One second,” Perrie’s voice came from inside. Jade immediately noticed something was off.

When the door unlocked, she slowly walked into the small room, wondering why her girlfriend had locked herself in here. “What’s wrong?”

“I just – sorry for yesterday? That was so awkward. It took you a while to get even comfortable with kissing me and then I go and talk about sex. And, I mean, you don’t have to? I was drunk and just said it because… I was drunk. And I don’t want you to think I _need_ this from you. That you owe me that. Or anything. I don’t know. I felt dumb because I’d said that and I was scared you’d feel awkward waking up next to me so I… yeah. I came in here and why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Aw, Perrie, love,” Jade smiled softly and grabbed her girlfriend’s hand, entwining their fingers. She pushed herself off the wall and towards the blonde. “That was totally okay. And I was serious. I wouldn’t mind having sex with you at all. I’ve realised yesterday that I want you, in every way you let me.”

Perrie opened her mouth and took a quick breath before closing it. Again, those three words burned on her tongue but she quickly smiled it away. “That means a lot to me. I guess, thank you?”

Jade laughed and hugged the younger girl, her nose bumping into the blonde’s shoulder blade. “No need to thank me at all. I love you.”

Jade froze as she said those words, noticing how Perrie’s body went all stiff for a second. “Sorry – if it’s too soon. You don’t have to say it back.” She smiled sheepishly, hiding her face from the blonde. She had no idea why she’d said it. She didn’t even know that before she’d said it. And it was probably way too soon and Perrie was probably really uncomfortable now.

Instead she felt the blonde move in for a kiss, holding her close and washing her worries away. “I love you, too, Jade,” she whispered into Jade’s open mouth. Her hands wandered down the older girl’s back, who felt goose bumps raise wherever the blonde touched her. Perrie’s grip tightened when it reached Jade’s thighs and almost instantly the older girl wrapped her legs around her girlfriend, fitting perfectly. Perrie carried her into Jade’s bedroom, their lips moving against each other with practised ease. Perrie tasted like the cherry champagne from the previous evening and also tooth paste, which made Jade grin. She loved kisses mixed with tooth paste.

She felt herself being dropped onto the bed and when she opened her eyes, blonde hair was framing her vision. A pair of clear blue eyes was staring right back into hers. She felt her whole body catching fire and desire pooling in the pit of her stomach. “Perrie,” she breathed out and put her weight onto her elbows to lift her head up. She pressed her lips to the blonde’s, stealing a small kiss before she broke off in shock when a small whimper fell from Perrie’s mouth.

“Oh, dear God,” she murmured and wrapped one arm around her girlfriend’s neck, pulling her down onto her body and kissing her passionately. She felt hands roaming her sides, slipping under her loose pyjama shirt, hot fingers touching her cool skin. _Want, need_ , was what her head screamed at her and she could hear herself whispering the blonde’s name. She received another whimper in return.

“You’re gorgeous,” Perrie whispered as her lips trailed down Jade’s jaw. Biting, sucking and touching. Her lips found Jade’s sweet spot between her collarbone and neck and the older girl keened, arching into the touch. Perrie grinned and sucked a bit, letting her tongue wet the skin a bit. Her teeth grazed over the sensitive skin before they dug into her skin softly, not breaking through but putting enough pressure on it. She proceeded with sucking on the sensitive spot before she leaned back and glanced at the bruise. “Mine.”

“Yours,” Jade muttered breathlessly. Perrie’s hands were everywhere, yet she needed, wanted more.  “Perrie, just. Please.” The blonde grinned at that, her hands lifting her girlfriend’s upper body off the bed. She helped Jade take off the loose white shirt and threw it away carelessly. “You’re so pretty,” Perrie smiled. “Is it okay if I look?”

“Very okay,” Jade laughed and bit her lip, still being a bit nervous, albeit the comment about her being pretty. She squirmed a bit when the blonde didn’t say anything but as soon as her eyes connected with Perrie’s, she knew she didn’t have anything to worry about – her gaze said everything.

“I love you,” Perrie giggled and leaned in for another kiss. “Can I – like. Touch?”

“God, yes, please,” Jade breathed out and grinned. “You don’t have to ask. I promise I’ll let you know if I’m not comfortable with anything.”

“Alright.”

“You too?”

“Yes,” Perrie smiled and sneaked another quick peck. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Jade laughed. Her breathed hitched in her throat, though, when she felt her girlfriend’s warm fingers dance across her lean stomach, white and gold skin touching. Perrie placed her other hand onto Jade’s left breast, massaging softly before twisting the nipple between her index finger and thumb. Jade gasped. “Yes. Again, please.” Perrie did as she was told and repeated the motion a few times, relishing in the sounds she caused. She leaned down and wrapped her lips around the other hard nub, sucking at first and then biting into the skin.

“Perrie, fuck,” she heard the older girl say. The sound was breathless and impressed and it made Perrie wanting more.

“If that’s what you want,” Perrie giggled and winked, drawing a moan from the older girl. Her pale fingers slipped down Jade’s stomach, leaving a trail of fire beneath the brunette’s skin. Perrie hooked her fingers into Jade’s pyjama pants, tugging them down and the other girl instantly lifted her hips, letting the blonde undress her. Within a few seconds Jade was naked and looking at Perrie’s face, which was filled with emotions of pure joy and desire and _love_. It almost made her come.

One of Perrie’s fingers entered her and Jade could hear the surprised gasp and she wanted to be embarrassed of how wet she was but when Perrie smiled at her all fondly and proud, she just couldn’t. “You feel so good,” she admitted and bit her lip, rubbing a hand over her face.

Another finger entered her and the pace quickened, just a tiny bit. It wasn’t fast enough just yet, but it was fast enough to make her realise she could come like this if Perrie continued. When there were three fingers inside of her, Perrie became even quicker and suddenly she could feel a mouth being pressed to her opening. The fingers left her and she moaned at the emptiness.

Perrie’s tongue licked into her and she hummed, sending vibrations through Jade’s entire body. “You taste amazing.” Jade keened softly, her hand finding Perrie’s hair. She didn’t push her down, she didn’t pull her up. She just kept her hand on Perrie’s head, her fingers in her blonde hair. The younger girl’s tongue moved again, licking and then she was sucking and biting and it was just all too much.

“Perrieperrieperrie,” Jade whispered urgently and her other hand gripped onto the linen tightly. It came out as one word and her thighs tightened around Perrie’s head. The blonde could tell she was close but she didn’t stop thrusting her tongue in and out of her girlfriend. Her hands were stroking at Jade’s thighs at first but then she reached out and grabbed the hand in the sheets, entwining their fingers.

“Look at me,” Perrie hummed against Jade’s sensitive skin.

Almost immediately the brunette lifted her head from where it was pressed into the pillow and her widened pupils focused on Perrie’s intense gaze. Jade’s mouth was wide open, yet no sound came out. For some reason Perrie liked that she was quiet in bed.

“So close, so close, fuck,” Jade breathed out, her grip onto Perrie’s hand tightening. The other, entangled in the blonde hair, was still.

“Come on,” Perrie whispered as she put two fingers inside of Jade. “I know you’re ready.” She licked at her girlfriend’s clit again, sucking a bit and then she felt Jade’s thighs snap together, holding her head between them.

Nothing but a broken whimper fell from Jade’s mouth as she came and Perrie kept thrusting her fingers in and out, kept licking and sucking and biting. She couldn’t keep her eyes open as the waves of ecstasy rushed over her, drowning her, but she didn’t need air to breath.

All she needed was Perrie.

The blonde moved up the older girl’s body, pressing their lips together into a passionate kiss and Jade broke through the surface, being able to breathe again as her arms wrapped around her girlfriend’s waist. “Why are you still dressed,” Jade murmured and it didn’t even come out as a question.

She quickly undressed the blonde, biting down in the crease of Perrie’s neck. The blonde’s hips were moving against her own leg, rutting against her. Their lips met in another kiss as Jade’s fingers found the younger girl’s sweet spot between her milky thighs. “You taste like pussy,” Jade moaned as she thrust her fingers inside of Perrie.

Unlike her girlfriend, the blonde was one to scream. Her moans were audible in the entire room and with a giggle Jade had to stifle her sounds with a kiss. “I love you and, God, do I love you make these sounds,” the brunette whispered, “but Jake and Jesy are sleeping in the room right next to us.”

“Bet they’re not sleeping now,” Perrie moaned as she pressed her hips into Jade again. She was both grinding down onto Jade’s thigh and being finger fucked by the older female.

Jade blushed a deep shade of red when she kissed Perrie this time. She added two more fingers and quickened the pace, wanting to see the look on the blonde’s face when she came. She was so wet and hot and warm and tight around her fingers, it made her head spin a little bit.

“Love you,” Perrie moaned as she brought down her hips again. “You’re so – fuck. God. Yes. Good. Amazing.” Her eyes were shut and her mouth wide open. Everything was messy and dirty but it was so good and Jade would never ask for anyone else.

“You’re so good and tight,” Jade murmured and sucked at the skin below Perrie’s neck again. Her teeth grazed at the white skin, drawing blood. “Mine.”

“Yours. Yours. Yes, yes. Please. Wow.” Her movements became slower, which only fuelled Jade to go faster. The motions of her hand were quick and precise and she hoped that what she usually did to herself, Perrie would like just as much.

“So – fuck. Close. Soon.”

“Come for me,” Jade murmured and sucked at the bruised skin above Perrie’s collar bone. “I bet you make the prettiest face when you do.”

That was all it took for the blonde to come. Her head fell back and a last breath escaped through her open mouth. Jade thought it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

Perrie’s walls clenched around Jade’s fingers and her thighs were tightly wrapped around Jade’s lower body, but the younger girl didn’t stop her motions until Perrie whimpered softly again. The brunette slowly removed her fingers before taking them into her mouth and sucking the wetness off. She then proceeded to kiss her girlfriend, who hummed contently into the kiss.

“Love you,” Perrie whispered exhausted.

“Love you, too,” Jade murmured fondly.

When the two of them went to eat ‘breakfast’ later (at almost five in the afternoon, with very obvious sex hair), Jake and Jesy didn’t say much. Their winks and raised eyebrows were enough signs to Jade that they knew what had happened.

But when Perrie pressed her thumb into Jade’s bruise and devoured her body that night again, she knew she didn’t care.


End file.
